Out of Time
by forever-ami92
Summary: What if Lord Voldemort were to return? As a teenager? Rose and Scorpius are now together, but will they be able to deal with this new development? Sequel to Changes but can be read on its own. Please R and R.
1. Chapter 1

**So, I've decided to write a sequel to Changes, as I had quite a few reviews asking for one. This story will be less focused on romance than Changes was, but there will still be a lot of Rose and Scorpius :). If you haven't read Changes, I would suggest reading that one first as it will help you understand the characters and their backstory. This story is also likely to switch between Rose and Lily's POVs. I hope everyone enjoys it. Unfortunately, school has started, so I will probably only be updating around once or twice a week. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Rose POV**

Lying flat on my broom, I descended as quickly as I could towards the roof of Number 12, Grimmauld Place, trying not to let the Invisibility Cloak flap too much and reveal any part of my body. My head was spinning, and even the three hour broom ride hadn't been enough for me to fully realise what had just happened. I'd gone to Scorpius's house. I'd told him how I'd felt. He'd _kissed _me. And now we were together.

Happiness was literally bursting out of my every pore. That is, until I stepped inside the house, moving as quietly as I could in the hopes of not being discovered and saw my father's face. He was standing in the entrance hall, arms folded, staring at me. The expression on his face was angrier than I'd ever seen it.

***

I hadn't really ever thought I'd be able to pull off running away to Malfoy Manor in the middle of the night without being found out. However, I hadn't bargained for my entire family in the entrance hall, waiting for me to come home and trying their best to prevent my father from coming out to look for me. The only reason he hadn't, he informed me through gritted teeth, was that Lily, plus our friends Helen and Swarna, had convinced him to give me until one o'clock to come home on my own. I'd only just made the deadline.

I wasn't sure whether to thank my friends for preventing my father for coming to Malfoy Manor, or to be angry with them for telling him where I was. I had no time to decide, however. He was still staring at me.

'Rose, what the _hell _possessed you to go flying off to Malfoy Manor in the middle of the night?' he yelled suddenly, his voice rising with every syllable. 'And how can you possibly be going out with a Malfoy? Don't you remember what I said to you on your first day of Hogwarts? Or did you just not listen?'

I knew what I had done was stupid and he had every right to be angry with me, but I was _not _going to put up with him being against Scorpius because of his family.

'I'm not going to put up with your prejudices, Dad. We're not at war anymore.' I said, looking him straight in the eye. 'I know I shouldn't have flown off without telling anyone, but I knew if I told you, you would never let me speak to Scorpius again.'

He opened his mouth, probably to agree with the whole never-speaking-to-Scorpius-again thing, but Mum stepped in, taking his arm.

'Ron, you're right about how she shouldn't have gone anywhere without our permission, but she does have a point. We do need to talk about your prejudices.'

She looked at me. 'Rose, why don't you go and sit in the drawing room while your father and I talk about this? We'll call for you in a while.'

Knowing I was lucky to get off this lightly, I headed into our room without protest. Helen, Lily and Swarna followed immediately, all wanting to know what had happened.

***

I had just finished telling the story when the door opened and Dad entered. He still looked angry, but not as furious as he had before. Immediately, Helen, Swarna and Lily melted away like snow does when the sun comes out. '_Great_' I thought. I would have to face Dad alone.

He stopped in front of me. 'Rose,' he said formally, taking a deep breath. 'I've talked to your mother, and while I do _not _condone you sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night, I'm sorry for what I said about Scorpius. You were right, I was prejudiced, and I will try to be open minded about this.'

I was completely shocked by this. I had been convinced that Dad would never come around to the idea of me and Scorpius. Before I could speak though, he went into a long rant about how irresponsible I was, how if I ever snuck out of the house again I would regret it, and how, for my punishment, I was grounded for the rest of the Christmas holidays, and would have to spend Boxing Day cleaning the attic. I listened to this without complaining, because I knew I deserved it.

Once he'd got it all off his chest, I hugged him silently, then we both went downstairs to everyone else.

***

The rest of the Christmas holidays passed uneventfully. I spent Boxing Day cleaning the attic, something that didn't really feel like a punishment as there were so many interesting objects to examine. I spent half an hour going through an antique trunk, looking at all the old fashioned robes it contained and marvelling at how much fashion had changed. This change was undeniably a good thing, I decided, folding a set of moth eaten robes in a horrible purple colour that were covered in lace ruffles.

I was about to put the clothes back in the trunk when I noticed something gleaming at the bottom of it. I reached in and pulled it out, examining it closely. It appeared to be a necklace, with a tiny hourglass hanging on a thin chain. I pushed it into my pocket, then promptly forgot about it for the rest of the holidays.

***

It wasn't until the last day of the holidays, when I was packing, that it reminded me of its presence by falling out of the pocket of my jeans as I folded them.

It fell at Lily's feet, and she picked it up.

'Is this yours, Rose?' she asked, looking at it closely. 'It's beautiful.'

'No, I just found it in the attic while I was cleaning,' I replied, now packing my spellbooks, which had somehow moved out of my trunk and into a huge heap on the floor beside my bed. I wasn't entirely focused on the conversation, as most of my mind was busy being excited over seeing Scorpius again. 'You can have it if you want.'

'Thanks, Rose,' Lily smiled, tucking the necklace into the pocket of the robes she was carrying.

***

We took the Knight Bus to Hogsmeade Station the next day, arriving just in time to catch a carriage to Hogwarts. Despite all my subtle glances at the crowd, I couldn't see Scorpius anywhere.

'Don't worry Rose, you'll see him when we get there,' laughed Helen. I blushed. Maybe my searching hadn't been so subtle after all.

Much to my chagrin, I didn't see him again until the feast. He smiled happily at me from the Slytherin table and got up to come over, but at that exact second, Headmistress Bones stood up to make her speech. He sat down, looking disappointed. I gritted my teeth, annoyed. We'd written to each other during the last week of the holidays, but I had wanted to talk to him.

I finally got my chance in the Entrance Hall after dinner. There was no time to talk properly, as we were surrounded by students trying to go to bed, but he managed to give me a quick kiss.

Feeling much happier, I accompanied my friends to the dormitory. Helen, Swarna and I immediately started to get ready for bed, but Lily insisted she had to use the library to go and check some minor fact in her Transfiguration essay in a book. Despite all our protests, she would not allow us to talk her out of it, so eventually we let her go.

**Lily POV**

I headed down to the library, shaking my head at how my friends had tried to convince me to go to bed without checking my essay. I knew I worried too much about work – I took after my Aunt Hermione that way – but I had long since learned not to fight it.

I reached the library and searched, as quickly as possible, for the book I was looking for, a history of all the Animagi ever registered. Finding it, I dropped into a chair to quickly check how many had been recorded in the 17th century. As I read, I toyed with the hourglass around my neck, the necklace Rose had given me. It spun between my fingers, faster and faster until it became a blur. I had always needed something to fiddle with as I worked. It helped me concentrate, and this necklace was possibly my favourite random object ever. Becoming engrossed in the book as I always did, I didn't look up until I'd found what I needed, a good five minutes later.

Once I had, I stood up, closing the book. Next second, I'd jumped back in shock, bashing painfully into the chair behind me.

'Ouch!' I exclaimed, falling into the chair again and rubbing my sore ankle, while my eyes roamed around the unfamiliar room I was now in.

Well, the room was familiar. It was still the Hogwarts Library, but it was _different. _ The bookshelves were closer together, and there were fewer chairs.

With a start, I realised that, sitting in one of those chairs, was a teenage boy with dark hair, staring at me with interest.

**Please review as I want to know if you like the beginning of this fic. Don't worry, Lily won't stay in the past for long, and there will be more Rose/Scorpius in the next few chapters. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Wow, response to this was better than I expected, so here's another chapter! Special mention to S K B C, my first reviewer :)**

**Disclaimer: Not mine. **

**Lily POV**

I stared at the boy. He stared back, unblinking. I noticed that he was good looking, with pale skin, jet black hair and dark eyes. I was wondering whether or not I should say something when he said conversationally 'Do you do that often?'

'What?' I asked, after I had looked over my shoulder to check that he was in fact talking to me.

'You know,' he replied, causally waving his hand. 'Just...appear out of thin air.'

'Oh,' I replied stupidly. Somehow, confused by finding myself in a new room, with only a boy I'd never seen before, and no idea how I had gotten there, I hadn't considered how strange it must have been for him to see me appear. And I must have just appeared. I certainly hadn't walked into this room through the door.

Realising I was still clutching my necklace, I let it fall against my robes. It glinted, the hourglass reflecting the light of a nearby candle. Suddenly, the pieces fell into place. I gasped. How had I not realised before?

I had read about Time Turners in history books, mostly covering the Second Wizarding War. I remembered reading about how, after my parents and their friends had smashed the entire Ministry of Magic stock of Time Turners during the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, the Ministry had decided not to make any more, declaring them 'too dangerous.' I suppose they thought someone might accidently bring Voldemort into our time or something.

So how was it that there'd been one in Grimmauld Place? To be honest, I wasn't surprised. There'd been so many Dark Objects hidden in that house. Now that it belonged to my father, obviously _not_ a Dark wizard, the Ministry tended to leave it alone. No one had been up in that attic in years. I supposed it had just been left in there, maybe as long as fifty years ago, and Rose had just uncovered it by chance.

The boy cleared his throat, and I realised I hadn't answered him.

'Um, I know this a weird question,' I said carefully, 'but could you possibly tell me what date it is today?'

'January 7th,' he replied without hesitation.

I paused before asking the vital question. 'And the year?'

He understood. I saw his eyes flicker from my face to my necklace and back again. '1943,' he said, his voice betraying no emotion at meeting a visitor from the future.

'When did you come from?'

Even though I'd been sure he had figured it out, I was still amazed at how quickly he grasped what had happened. Still, I supposed my appearance out of thin air had been a bit of a giveaway.

I debated not telling him, but decided it couldn't hurt. He was obviously intelligent and could probably help me get back. '2022.'

He looked surprised at that, standing up and taking a step towards me before he caught himself.

'You came back almost eighty years using a Time Turner?' I nodded. 'It must be broken, to send you that far,' he mused. It seemed like he was talking to himself rather than me, but then his head snapped up and he met my eyes again.

'I'm Tom, by the way,' he said briskly, as if wanting to get the introductions over quickly.

'Lily,' I replied, holding out my hand. He ignored it, looking towards the Time Turner around my neck.

'How are you going to get back?' he asked suddenly. His eyes flashed to the Time Turner again, and I instinctively covered it with my hand. There was something strange about the way he was looking at it, sort of...hungry.

'I'm not sure,' I admitted, panic suddenly rushing through me. I forgot all about how Tom was looking at the Time Turner. How _was _I going to get back? Rose and the others must be worried by now...and if the Time Turner was broken, like he said, how was I going to know how many times to turn it?

'Let me see the Time Turner,' he said, indicating it again. 'I may be able to work out how to send you back. When in 2022 do you want to get to?'

I held out the miniature hourglass, not sure what else to do– I certainly couldn't get back on my own – and explained exactly when I wanted to get to. I was distracted, however, by how close Tom was standing to me. I could feel his breath, warm on my face as he examined the Time Turner, still around my neck, between his fingers.

He pulled out his wand, tapped the hourglass and muttered something. A glow seemed to pass across the Time Turner. Despite my extensive reading, I had no idea what he was doing, which annoyed me. I hated not knowing something, just as my aunt did.

Tom seemed satisfied, however. After a moment, he looked up, smiling, although it didn't reach his eyes. I felt a strange chill go through me, at the sight of his smile.

'This Time Turner is broken,' he said matter of factly. I must have looked like I was about to pass out, because he added quickly. 'Don't worry, we can still get you back easily enough. Each turn of this hourglass will send you back – or forward – a year, instead of an hour.'

I took a deep breath. 'So all I have to do...'

'Is turn it forwards 79 times, yes,' he nodded. 'Would you like me to do it for you now?'

I nodded, sure that in my current state of nerves I'd mess up the number of turns and end up a few hundred years in the future. 'Thank you,' I added, closing my eyes as I heard him begin to count. In just a few minutes, I'd be back where I belonged.

***

**Rose POV **

Lily hadn't come back from the library, although it was approaching ten, our curfew as fifth years, and I was beginning to worry about her.

'I'm sure she's just gotten engrossed in her book again, Rose, you know what she's like,' said Swarna dreamily. She hadn't come back down to earth since Christmas Eve, and it had been even worse than usual today. She and James had both been ten minutes late for dinner, then arrived within moments of each other, and neither had stopped smiling since.

Pushing this out of my mind – I really didn't need to think about it now, I replied with 'Yes, but you know she would never do anything that would get her in trouble on the first night of term.'

'Nothing you can do, Rose,' said Helen sleepily. 'She'll be back when she finds what she's looking for, and unless you want to go to the library in your pyjamas, there's nothing you can do about it.'

After grudgingly conceding that Helen had a point here, I climbed into bed, resolving to stay awake until Lily came back. Unfortunately, exhaustion from the day and pleasant thoughts of Scorpius were enough to send me off to sleep quickly.

***

**Lily POV**

Tom's voice said 'seventy-nine', and then he stopped counting. A second later, I felt a cool breeze tickle every inch of my exposed skin, as if I were being blown about by the wind. I also felt light-headed, and kept my eyes squeezed shut to avoid falling over. I wondered how on earth I hadn't noticed this when going back in time, and realised my friends were right – I did tend to get too engrossed in books.

Then it was over, and I opened my eyes and put my arms out to prevent myself from falling over. I immediately knew I was back. The familiar bookshelves and chairs had never seemed so welcoming, but I wasn't paying much attention to them. This was because, in front of me, there was a teenage boy, still standing extremely close to me, the hourglass clutched in his hand.

Tom had come with me, back to my present.

**Please review :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: OK. I am so, so, so, so sorry it's been such a long time. School has been SO much work and I haven't had any free weekends for almost seven weeks. I am settling into a rhythm, so will try and keep the updates coming every two weeks or so from now on. **

**Disclaimer: Belongs to J K Rowling.**

**Ministry of Magic, 11:30 p.m. , January 7****th**

Harry Potter was just about to Apparate home, when he felt something he hadn't felt in over twenty years – a flash of pain across the scar on his forehead.

**Hogwarts**

**Lily POV**

'_It's OK,'_ I told myself wildly, taking a step back as if putting distance between myself and Tom would put him back in his own time. _'It's OK, he can go back. He knows how to work the Time Turner.'_

Unfortunately, my taking a step back caused the chain to tauten, then snap. Jumping in surprise, Tom dropped the hourglass, which fell to the floor and smashed, the sand spilling out in a glistening pile. I stared at it in horror, then looked up at Tom.

For a second, I thought I saw something like triumph on his face, but I blinked and it was gone, replaced by a look I was sure was identical to my own.

'Oh no,' I whispered. 'Tom, I'm so, so sorry. How are you going to get back?'

'Don't worry, Lily,' he said, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and scooping up the broken pieces of the Time Turner and the sand. 'I'm sure we can get it fixed. And if we can't...well I had no family in my time anyway.'

I thought he was being remarkably calm about this, considering he might never get back to his own time. Pulling myself together, I tried to think of what to do. All I could come up with was to go to Headmistress Bones and explain. She would probably be able to help, and would understand that the whole thing had been an accident.

I told Tom my idea, and he agreed, leading me to the next problem: I had no idea where the Headmistress's office was, having never needed to go there before. Seeing my hesitation, Tom said with a smirk 'Don't know they way, then?'

I blushed and nodded.

'Follow me,' he said with a grin. 'I bet it hasn't changed location in eighty years.'

He led me through the castle to a tower I'd never been to before, stopping in front of an ugly stone gargoyle, which appeared to be asleep.

'How do we wake it up?' I whispered urgently, but he was saved from answering by the gargoyle moving aside to reveal Headmistress Bones. I supposed she had heard our footsteps.

'Miss Potter?' she asked sharply, looking at me. 'What are you doing wandering about at this hour?' Her gaze moved onto Tom. 'And who's this?'

I swallowed. It was all very well to imagine explaining this whole situation to Headmistress Bones, but now she was standing in front of me, staring at me expectantly, I had no idea what to say.

'I can explain, Headmistress,' came Tom's voice from just behind me.

'Really?' asked Headmistress Bones doubtfully, peering at him distrustfully. 'Just who _are _you?'

'I'm Tom Gaudle, Headmistress,' he said smoothly. 'And unfortunately, Lily here' - he indicated me - , 'accidently brought me from my time into hers.'

He held out the broken pieces of the Time-Turner. Headmistress Bones looked at them, and then, turning pale, raised her gaze to our faces.

'You'd better come in,' she said faintly, and held open the door to her office.

***

Half an hour later, I was on my way back to the dormitory with Tom, still feeling slightly shell-shocked. Had I really gone to the past? And, even accepting that to be true, had I really brought back a teenage boy? I glanced at him, walking next to me. He definitely looked real. Apparently it had all really happened then. Guilt was starting to gnaw at me. I had taken someone out of their own time.

Headmistress Bones had decided that the best thing to do would be for Tom to enrol in Hogwarts, saying he had transferred from a school somewhere in Europe, until we managed to fix the Time Turner, or find another. As Tom said he had been in Gryffindor in his own time, she decided just to allow him to join our house without being properly Sorted.

'It's convenient anyway, as you're the only one he knows here, Miss Potter,' she'd said distractedly, already writing letters to various contacts in the wizarding world whom she thought might be able to help.

I was distracted from my thoughts by Tom himself.

'So, you think anyone will actually believe us about transferring from Europe?' he smiled.

I found myself slightly flustered for some reason as he looked at me, but managed to make a sort of non-committal noise in my throat, before groaning out loud.

'Lily?' asked Tom, startled. 'What's the matter?'

'My friends,' I wailed. 'They thought I was just going to the library, there is no way they're going to believe I've been studying all this time, and they probably won't believe the story about you anyway.'

'Why don't you just tell them the truth?' Tom suggested, with another smile. 'I'm sure, if they're your friends, they won't tell anyone.'

I considered this.

'Are you sure you don't mind?' I asked eventually, not meeting his eyes.

'Of course not,' he replied, stopping and turning toward me. 'Lily, I can tell you feel guilty about bringing me here, but please don't. I meant what I said about having no family in my time. And...let's just say things here could be good for me.'

Again, a strange light flashed through his eyes, but I barely took any notice of it, I was so relieved he wasn't angry. I smiled back, and we walked back to the portrait hole in companionable silence.

I wished Tom luck explaining his presence to James and Hugo – he was a year older than me, and would be joining the sixth year – then climbed the stairs to my own dormitory, dreading attempting to explain this all to my friends.

**Rose POV**

It was almost midnight when Lily _finally _turned up, and although the three of us had stopped talking a while before, and pretended to go to sleep, we were all still wide awake and waiting. The second she walked through the door, all three of us sat and bombarded her with questions.

'Where have you _been_?'

'You can't have been studying for this long, surely?'

'Didn't anyone catch you?'

Lily simply stood there, waiting for the flood to stop. As soon as we were quiet, she simply said 'I accidently went back in time.'

The three of us simply gaped at her.

Five minutes later, we had the whole story. Swarna and Helen started attacking Lily again, while I just slumped back against the bed frame in shock.

Lily had been back in time. And there was a teenage boy from the past at Hogwarts.

Suddenly, breakfast looked a lot more interesting.

***

I was first out of the dormitory the next morning. Excited as I was to meet this mysterious Tom, I was also incredibly excited to see Scorpius.

Apparently, he was also excited to see me, as he was waiting in the Entrance Hall.

'Hi,' he smiled, leaning forwards to give me a quick kiss. I smiled back, feeling happier than I could ever remember feeling before.

Once we got into the Entrance Hall, I dragged him over to the Gryffindor Table. He was surprisingly fine with the prospect of eating with my friends and family, and started on a pile of breakfast while we waited. I was surprised at how little people seemed to care that there was a Slytherin at our table, but made a mental note to write home and tell Dad just how much things had changed since the war.

Scorpius was trying to convince me to try a scrambled egg – I had hated eggs since birth – when everyone else arrived, in a big group. And walking amongst them was a tall, unfamiliar teenage boy with dark hair. All at once I remembered Lily's story.

'Who's that?' Scorpius asked, motioning to Tom with his fork.

I was saved the trouble of answering that – I didn't know whether to tell Scorpius the truth or not, as Lily had told us to keep what had happened a secret – by everyone sitting down. Tom sat in between me and Lily, and turned towards me with a grin. I noticed, despite being completely in love with Scorpius, that he was incredibly good-looking.

'You must be Lily's cousin Rose,' he said warmly.

I nodded, and introduced Scorpius, then began to question Tom on what he thought of Hogwarts, and where exactly he had transferred from (the story, it turned out, was that he had come from a school in Albania).

Tom seemed remarkably fine with being ripped from his time and getting stuck in the future, making us all laugh frequently, and smoothing over the undeniable underlying tension at the table. I noticed Lily hanging onto his every word. Helen and Swarna didn't seem immune either, and I wondered how long it would take James to catch on. I even noticed a few girls sitting further down the table shooting us envious glances.

I'd forgotten that James and Hugo hadn't had much to do with Scorpius. Although they were both talking animatedly to Tom and the rest of us, they kept shooting him dark looks over the bowls of porridge they were demolishing. They especially didn't seem to like the way we were holding hands on the table.

I shot Hugo a pleading look, and his expression softened slightly.

'So, Scorpius, you...er....ready to take your OWLs?' he asked. OK, so it wasn't the best attempt at conversation, but it was a start. Scorpius jumped at the chance of a friendly conversation with Hugo, and the atmosphere improved significantly.

After breakfast, we left the guys to proceed to our first class of the term, Transfiguration. Sadly, this wasn't with the Slytherins, but at least this meant my friends and I would have a chance to discuss the situation with Tom.

As we left the Entrance Hall, I noticed Lily looking back towards him, and smirked to myself. This could be a very interesting term...

**Please, please review, even though I am a horrible person who hasn't updated in weeks. **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Again, I'm so so so so sorry, I haven't had any free time at all while at school, and I'm absolutely swamped in work. There should be few chapters up over the Christmas holidays. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own it.**

**Rose POV**

The morning passed in a haze of teachers lecturing us on the fact our OWLs were now so close that it would be stupid of us to spend even a second relaxing instead of revising. I tuned most of it out, knowing that Lily, again taking after my mother instead of her own parents, would be making us all revision timetables as soon as she had a spare moment and insisting we kept to them.

At least, this _was _what I thought until I glanced at Lily during Transfiguration and saw, to my utter astonishment, that instead of taking notes on the theory of Silencing Charms, she was doodling on a spare bit of parchment and paying no attention whatsoever.

'Lily!' I hissed, glancing across the classroom to check that Professor Mikkat wasn't watching us. 'Are you OK?'

She looked up and stared at me blankly.

'You're not taking notes! It's just not normal...' I said under my breath, still staring incredulously in her direction.

Before she could reply, Professor Mikkat looked threateningly in our direction, and I turned quickly back to my own notes, which for once looked like they were actually more detailed than Lily's.

***

**Lily POV**

After Rose pulled me out of my daze in Transfiguration, I pushed thoughts of Time-Turners and alternate versions of the Hogwarts Library and being in the wrong time out of my head and spent the rest of the morning concentrating on schoolwork. However, hard as I tried, I couldn't stop wondering how Tom was getting on. Was he settling in in our time? Had anyone realised that he was lying about Albania? And what must it be like for him, to learn about everything that had occurred in the wizarding world since his time? Two wars....I shuddered slightly and bent over my notes.

I didn't want to acknowledge the thought that my concern for Tom might be for any other reason than the fact that it was my fault he stuck here in the first place. However, as the morning progressed, I realised I was thinking less and less about wanting to ask Tom if our plan was working and more and more about just being able to talk to him...

Thankfully, I was saved from actually having to finish this thought by Rose and Helen urging me towards the door. Apparently we had been dismissed for lunch. So much for concentrating....I shook myself slightly and followed them out of the classroom.

***

Luckily, James and Hugo had arrived at the table before we did, so I was spared embarrassing questions about not being myself that morning. I just slid into a seat and started helping myself to food, not trusting myself to speak without mentioning Tom. Thankfully, Helen asked the question I'd wanted to answer to ever since we'd got within sight of the table.

'Where's Tom? Is he OK?' she asked, looking at Hugo, as James and Swarna had already fallen into conversation and Rose was searching the hall for Scorpius.

'He went to the library,' said Hugo around a mouthful of mashed potato. 'Said he had some work to do if he wanted to catch up to us.'

Helen and I exchanged worried looks. 'Do you think he found out about the wars?' I asked her quietly, giving up on not asking questions.

'Well,' she whispered slowly, 'they could have come up in Defence Against the Dark Arts or something....someone mentioning their parents fighting in the Battle of Hogwarts...'

I ate rapidly, not speaking, trying to imagine how I would feel if I were to get stuck in the future, only to discover that the world had been through so much tragedy. Suddenly I realised that both the wars were Tom's future. If he went back to his own time, he'd have to experience both firsthand.

When this thought occurred, I dropped my fork and stood up, grabbing my bag.

'Where are you going, Lily?' asked Hugo, now eating his way through a gigantic plate of shepherd's pie.

'The library. I want to....look for a book to help with my Transfiguration homework.' I dashed out of the room before she could reply.

I headed straight for the library as fast as I could, not even bothering to try to convince myself that the excuse I'd given Helen was real. I wasn't stupid enough to think that I was only concerned about Tom because this whole thing was my fault. I liked Tom. It was easier to admit it to myself now, rather than spending months in denial about it.

I couldn't like Tom. He didn't belong here. He was going to go back to his own place, his own time, as soon as possible, and I would never be able to see him again. I paused at the entrance to the library, knowing the sensible thing to do would be to turn around and go back to lunch, and not do this.

I took a deep breath, and seriously considering turning around. Then I sighed and headed into the library.

***

Tom was sitting on his own at a table in the corner, surrounded by history books describing the wars. He didn't even notice my approach, engrossed in reading about the Battle of Hogwarts. A battle that was hard for me to think about, as my entire family has fought in it. A battle where so many people my parents had known had died...I pushed the thoughts from my head and cleared my throat.

Tom looked up abruptly, and for a second I thought I saw pure fury on his face. I took an involuntary step back, but he blinked, and it was gone.

'Lily,' he said, quietly. 'I...' his voice trailed off. 'I can't imagine...going back...knowing that this is all in store for me...for everyone I know...'

I dropped into the chair next to him. 'Tom,' I said gently. 'Tom, I'm so sorry. I should have told you.'

'It's not your fault,' he replied. 'And at least it ends...Harry Potter ends it.' He looked up at me. 'Do you know much about Harry Potter? The one who ends the war?'

I coughed awkwardly. 'Well actually, Tom, he's..my dad.'

Tom's head jerked up and his eyes met mine, flashing, just for a second, with something that looked like triumph. Just like I'd thought I'd seen when we'd both arrived back in the present. I shook myself again. Clearly travelling through time was making me go slightly crazy.

'Your father?' he asked hoarsely. 'Wow...you must be proud.'

'I am,' I answered honestly. 'But look, Tom, what happened is going to happen in your future. And I can't even imagine how it must feel to know that.' I leaned forward slightly. 'Do you want to talk about it?'

He smiled warmly. 'Maybe later, if that's OK with you. Right now, I think I just want to be alone.'

'Of course. I understand' I said, desperately wishing I could think of something to say that would make this better.

He stood up, then, to my utter astonishment, leaned forward and brushed his finger against my cheek. His finger was cold against my skin. 'Thanks Lily. I really appreciate everything you've done for me,' he said quietly, before turning around and walking out of the library, leaving me staring after him.

**Please review. And I promise I'll try my hardest to update more frequently. **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm on holiday, so it's easier to write, and as promised, here's another chapter :-) There's some Rose/Scorpius in this chapter as well, as I know I've been neglecting them. **

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

**Grimmauld Place, 8 a.m. January 8****th**

Harry, Ron, Hermione, George and Teddy were congregated in the living room at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. The mood was grim; worse than it had been in over twenty years.

Harry sat by the empty fireplace, staring into the grate as if he were trying to see the answer to their current problem in the half-burnt logs. Ginny rested her hand on his arm, looking at the others gravely.

'It can't mean he's back, can it?' she asked in a hushed voice.

Nobody answered, everyone desperately hoping someone else would come up with an alternative solution.

'Well...how can he be back?' said Hermione slowly. 'There's no logical way...'

'He was the most powerful Dark wizard who ever existed, Hermione,' said Ron heavily. 'If anyone could find a way back, he could.'

There was a silence. Teddy, the only one present who hadn't fought in the previous war, was fidgeting in his seat, unable to keep still.

'Well...if he is,' said George finally, 'what are we going to do?'

'I don't think there's much we _can _do, unless we can prove it,' said Hermione. 'If we tell the wizarding world now, it'll cause a panic. If he _is _back, it won't leave him any choice but to move into the open...and then...'

'He'll attack,' finished Harry grimly. 'So we don't tell anyone. The kids will be safe at Hogwarts, I don't think we should even tell them. You know what James is like – he'll want to drop out of Hogwarts to fight, when we're not even sure anything's wrong. We should send Susan an owl thought, just so Hogwarts is protected if anything happens.'

Half an hour later, the group dispersed, with strict instructions to reassemble the Order of the Phoenix and investigate ways Lord Voldemort could possibly have used to bring himself back from the dead.

***

**Hogwarts**

**Lily POV**

Tom seemed to quickly get over the information he'd discovered in the library. He settled in exceptionally well, soon forming friendships with James and Hugo, apparently beating them both in terms of schoolwork, and generally becoming an accepted part of our crowd. Occasionally I wondered whether or not the headmistress had managed to find a new Time Turner, or fix the broken one, but each time I pushed the thoughts away. There was a part of me, growing bigger every day, which wanted Tom to stay.

As the first Hogsmeade weekend of term approached, everyone started making plans for how to spend the day and listing things they wanted to buy. I was going with Helen and Swarna, as Rose had plans with Scorpius.

The night before the trip, I was studying late in the library, when I heard a soft cough, and looked up to find Tom standing in front of me.

'I hope I'm not disturbing you, Lily,' he said softly.

'No, no, of course not,' I replied, hurriedly slamming shut my textbook. 'What's the matter?'

My heart was pounding. Had he finally come to talk about the wars? Was he going to ask what he should do?

'Lily, I was wondering....if you wanted to go into Hogsmeade with me tomorrow?'

**Rose POV**

The first Hogsmeade weekend of the term occurred in the middle of Janaury, two weeks after the start of term. Despite spending as much time as possible with Scorpius, I was slightly nervous – it was our first official date, and although he didn't mention it the days leading up to it I knew he was remembering the last Hogsmeade weekend – he'd spent it with Lucy while I'd been on a date with Aaron.

Helen, Swarna and I had been watching Lily suspiciously since the start of term, watching how she and Tom spent an increasing amount of time together. It came as no surprise to any of us, when, the night before the trip, Lily rushed into our dormitory, talking excitedly at top speed. It took us almost five minutes to discover that Tom had apparently asked her out.

That night, lying in bed, I considered Lily going out with Tom. She was clearly ecstatic, and I was happy for her, but I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something odd about Tom. He'd been ripped from his own time and didn't seem to care. And sometimes, when he thought no one was looking, I saw flickers of light in his eyes that transformed his face...I shivered slightly. I was probably imagining things.

I decided not to say anything to Lily. I didn't want to start an argument with her now, not while things were so perfect.

***

The next day, the four of us met Scorpius, James, Hugo and Tom in the Entrance Hall. The eight of us walked into Hogsmeade together. On the way, I spotted Lucy, Scorpius' friend, walking with a few other Slytherin girls. I hadn't seen her since Christmas, when she'd let me into Malfoy Manor. I smiled tentatively at her, and, to my surprise, she smiled back.

When we reached the town, James and Swarna immediately headed off in the direction of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Helen apparently needed to buy a new quil, and Hugo accompanied her, as he needed to restock on ink. That left Scorpius and I with Lily and Tom. As we passed the Three Broomsticks, Tom suggested we all go for a drink. I was about to follow them in when I felt Scorpius gently take my arm, pulling me back.

'We'll see you later,' he said to Tom and Lily. 'I just need to...um...'

Tom shot us a knowing look and followed Lily into the shop before Scorpius could even finish his made up excuse. I knew he just wanted to be alone.

I turned to smile at him and he pulled me into the shadows behind the Three Broomsticks, then leaned forward and kissed me softly. I put my arms around him and was just pulling him closer when I heard a bump, just behind me.

We sprang apart and I whirled around, only to come face to face with my Uncle Harry.

'_Oh my god. What are we going to do?' _was all I could think. Yes, my family had come to terms with me going out with Scorpius. I still didn't want to imagine what my father would say when he heard about this.

'Hi, Mr Potter,' Scorpius said, bravely trying to fix the situation. 'We were just...uh...'

'Rose,' my uncle said, sounding preoccupied. 'What are you doing here?'

'Hogsmeade weekend,' I said. Was it possible he'd been getting his bearings from Apparating and hadn't noticed what we'd been doing? I looked closed and realised he looked terrible. There were dark circles under his eyes and he was thinner than usual. 'Are you OK?'

'I'm fine, just need to talk to a few people...' he replied. 'Where are the others?'

'Around,' I replied, suddenly realising that Lily might not want me to tell her father about Tom before she had a chance to talk to him. 'Are you going for a drink in the Three Broomsticks?'

'No, I just need to talk to George and a few people up at the castle. I'll see you later, Rose.'

He brushed past me and, with a nod to Scorpius, headed off in the direction of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

'What just happened?' asked Scorpius, sounding extremely confused. 'Did your uncle just...'

'Come on,' I interrupted. 'Let's join the others.'

I pulled him towards The Three Broomsticks, unable to keep myself from looking in the direction which Uncle Harry had gone in. Something was wrong. I was sure of it. Something was definitely very wrong. I just didn't have a clue what it was.

**Please review. **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Another chapter! Thanks for the reviews everyone and hope you enjoy this one! I really missed having the time to write every day...**

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

**Rose POV**

As the rest of January passed, I scoured _The Daily Prophet _every day, looking for evidence of anything out of the ordinary. I also bombarded my family with letters, trying to subtly find out what they were up to. Everyone replied, telling me unnecessary details of their everyday lives, which only served to absolutely convince me that they knew something they weren't telling us.

I had decided, after a lot of thinking, not to share my suspicions with anyone just yet. Everyone was so happy at the moment, especially Lily, who appeared to be officially dating Tom, and I didn't want to spoil anything with conspiracy theories that might be wrong anyway.

That's what I thought anyway. Until one day in early February an episode in the library made me forget whatever it was my uncle had been worrying about.

I had had to force myself out of bed obscenely early and go there in order to quickly scribble an essay for Professor Parkinson that was due in for that afternoon. I hadn't had time to write it before, as it was our second Quidditch match of the year the next day, and James had enforced another insane training regime. I had thought the entire room would be empty, and was surprised to see Tom sitting at a table in the corner, surrounded by piles of books.

I headed over to say hi to him, but then recoiled. He was muttering angrily to himself, and as I got closer I could hear some of the words.

'How could that happen? This time it'll be different. It'll all be different.' His voice was low, almost a hiss, and angrier than anything I'd ever heard.

'Tom...' I said hesitantly. 'Are you OK?'

He looked at me, eyes flashing, and in that moment he didn't look human. I took an involuntary step backwards. He took a deep breath, and then got up and swept out of the room without so much as looking at me. Shaking, I dropped into the chair he'd been sitting in. The book he'd been reading was still open, on a description of the Battle of Hogwarts. I leaned over it, hoping to find out what he'd been talking about, but a familiar voice interrupted me.

'Rose...' Lucy said tentatively, stepping out from behind a bookshelf. 'What was that all about?'

'I don't know,' I answered honestly. 'But...I think...there's something wrong with Tom.'

We looked at each other for a minute. I could see she agreed with me.

'I always thought he was a bit odd, transferring in from Albania and not seeming to know anything about the wars,' she said in a hushed voice, even thought we were alone. I considered telling her the truth, but decided not to. She certainly hadn't given me any reason to trust her in the past.

'I have to talk to Lily.' I muttered finally.

I left, barely even thinking about the fact that I'd just had a civil conversation with someone who last term I'd have thought of as an enemy.

***

I skidded into the dormitory just before the others left for breakfast. The essay hadn't been done, but I really didn't care about that at the moment.

'Rose!' Lily said, as I entered. She took one look at my face and came right over. Helen and Swarna had joined us in seconds. 'What happened?'

I explained as quickly as I could. 'I'm sorry, Lily, I know you like him, but you didn't see him...something was just wrong.'

Her face had closed off. 'I'm sorry, Rose, I think you might have misunderstood him.'

'What?!' I couldn't believe this. 'You're not going to believe me? I know what I saw, Lily.'

'Rose,' said Helen gently. 'It's early, you haven't had much sleep and you're exhausted from Quidditch practice. If you had travelled through time and learned that someone was going to ruin the world and probably kill you and your friends if you tried to stop them, wouldn't you be upset?'

I looked at Swarna for support, but could see in her eyes that she agreed with Helen.

'Fine.' I stomped out of the dormitory, seething. I couldn't believe they thought I was wrong about this.

I met Scorpius in the Entrance Hall as usual, but instead of going into breakfast, I pulled him aside and quietly recounted the morning again, missing out what Tom had been reading about, as Scorpius didn't know the truth about where he'd come from. To my utter disbelief, he seemed to agree with my friends.

'Rose, there's nothing wrong with Tom. He's doing remarkably well here, considering he had to change school in the middle of the year, for a reason he refuses to talk about.' His voice was patient, which immediately angered me, but I forced myself to take a deep breath.

'Scorpius, please. You have to believe me.' I hated that I was begging, but I was getting desperate. I considered telling him the truth about Tom, but the Entrance Hall was full and we'd definitely have been heard.

'Rose, I'm not saying he was right to ignore you, I'm just saying it's probably justified in his case. Now come on, or we'll miss breakfast.'

Defeated, I allowed him to pull me into the Great Hall. How on earth was I going to get anyone to believe me?

On the way to our usual table, I spotted Lucy moving through the crowd towards us. I shook my head at her, mouthing _'Later'_. While having someone supporting me would be great, my friends would probably be less likely to believe me if Lucy backed me up, thinking she was playing a trick on me or something.

Tom was absent from breakfast. My friends made a point of not commenting on this, and I knew they were trying to avoid a full scale argument. Sighing inwardly, I joined in the conversation the best I could. If I was going to figure this out, the last thing I needed was an argument with my friends.

I had to spend lunch writing the essay, and another full evening of Quiddich practice meant I didn't see Tom again that day, so I tried to push the whole thing from my mind, and focus only on the coming match.

***

The next day, stomach churning with the usual pre-Quidditch nerves, I made my way down to breakfast early, but found the rest of the team already congregated around the table. James was giving a pep talk on all the moves he wanted us to use, which he interrupted briefly to give me a dirty look for being late.

After forcing down some toast, we headed towards the pitch. As I was about to enter the changing rooms, someone grabbed my arm from behind, causing me to jump about a foot in the air. I turned to find Lucy behind.

'Don't _do _that!' I hissed furiously.

She rolled her eyes. 'Did you talk to Lily? What happened?'

'She doesn't believe me. No one does.' I said, suddenly feeling very tired.

'What?! What does she think happened?' Lucy asked.

'They all think that Tom has a reason to be a little upset because...' I stopped short.

'Why?' Lucy asked, looking interested. I looked at her, suddenly wanting to tell her everything. Yes, we'd had our differences last term, but she'd helped me out when I really needed it.

I looked at her straight on, locking my eyes with hers. 'If I tell you something, can you promise not to tell anyone else?'

She nodded frantically. I took a deep breath, and, hoping I wasn't about to regret this, told her the whole story. By the time I'd finished, her mouth had dropped open.

'Wha-he's from- _the_ _past?' _she spluttered.

I opened my mouth to reply, but just then James yelled from the changing room, sound less than pleased, 'Rose! Get in here! We've only got five minutes!'

'I have to go. I'll talk to you later.' I told Lucy, and sprinted in to get changed.

***

Five minutes later, I was on the pitch, watching James shake hands with the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain and Keeper, Julia. I had a ton of things to think about, but knew I had to forget them. For the moment, I had to focus on this match, or James would never speak to me again.

We kicked off, and the breeze whipping through my hair helped clear my mind. I shot a Bludger straight at Julia as she flew off to defend the hoops, which made me feel much better. My family often joked about how my enjoyment of hitting Bludgers at people obviously pointed towards anger management issues.

Twenty minutes later, I was hitting Bludgers toward the Ravenclaw hoops every time one of our Chasers got anywhere near them – she was a good Keeper, and they were winning, seemingly by more every minute. I could see James getting more and more annoyed every time our Chasers failed to score.

I was fully focused on the game, slamming Bludgers at every Ravenclaw player I could see, when one of the Bludgers soared off in the directions of the stands and I followed it, whacking it as hard as I could at a Ravenclaw Chaser who was trying to score. Luckily, Aaron saved the goal, grabbing the Quaffle and flinging to Mele halfway down the pitch. I couldn't fight a smile at the sight. Surprisingly, Aaron and I hadn't been getting on badly this term. He was still with Suzy, although none of us expected their relationship to last much longer. Even James, had thawed out towards him a little since getting together with Swarna.

I turned around, intending to fly back into the middle of the pitch, when I caught sight of Tom in the stands. He was staring at me, and the look in his eyes resembled the one I'd seen in them this morning.

For a second I froze in midair, staring at him, until I heard James shout 'Rose! What are you doing? Hit a Bludger at him!'

I spun round, just in time to see the Ravenclaw Seeker plunge into a dive towards something tiny and golden, fluttering near the ground. On the other side of the stadium, James dived too, but he was much further away.

I lurched forward, towards the nearest Bludger, and hit it with all my might towards the Seeker. It whizzed towards him, forcing him to roll over in midair to avoid it, and giving James just enough to time to swoop in and grab the Snitch.

The Gryffindor crowd went wild. I could see Swarna, Helen and Lily jumping up and down and cheering, and purposely didn't look at Lily's other side. I was still shaking inside as I landed and joined the rest of the Gryffindor team in a group hug before heading back up to the castle.

I knew I had to talk to Lucy right away. If she was the only one who believed me, then she was going to have to be the one to help me.

**Please review :-)**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hope everyone likes this chapter :). Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last one. Please, please take a little time to review this fic if you're enjoying it, especially if you have it on alert. Just a few words to let me know what you think make me feel so much happier and more inclined to write. Thank you :). Anyway, rant over, enjoy the chapter. **

**Disclaimer: Not mine. **

**Rose POV**

I spotted Lucy amidst the crowd of Slytherins making their way back up to the castle, and managed to slip away from the rest of the Quidditch team on the pretext of going to talk to Scorpius. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her aside silently, not wanting to risk being overheard. She came with me easily enough, knowing what I wanted to talk about.

I pulled her over to the Herbology greenhouses, making sure we were a good distance from everyone else, before I spoke, telling her about the look Tom had given me during the match. I was feeling a little calmer by this time, but more convinced than ever that there was something odd about him.

Lucy listened silently to everything I had to say. When I was done, she simply looked at me and said, somewhat sarcastically, 'Rose, we already knew there was something odd about him. We saw him yesterday. What, exactly, do you want to _do _about it?'

'I'm going to find out what it is,' I said determinedly. 'And, as no one else believes me, it looks like you're going to have to help me.'

She snorted. 'How exactly do you propose to figure this out?'

'I don't know,' I replied. 'But there must be a way. Look through books and records, or something, for a start. Try to figure out who he was, in his own time.'

She looked stunned, like she hadn't expected me to come up with an actual plan that stood a chance of working. Despite the serious circumstances, I felt good about proving to her that I wasn't the immature idiot she thought I was. A small voice in the back of my head told me that she had a right to think this, after the way I'd acted last term, but I ignored it.

'Fine,' she sighed, in a I'm-going-to-regret-this-tomorrow type of tone. 'I'll help you. Not right now though, I'm pretty sure our Quidditch Captain will want a team meeting in order to tell us everything he's picked up about Ravenclaw's technique from watching that match.'

This was fine with me. I was sure there was currently a party going on in the Gryffindor common room, and, as a member of the team, my presence would be missed if I didn't head up there soon. We arranged to meet in the library the next day, and then headed off to our respective common rooms. I was feeling slightly apprehensive about seeing Tom again, but tried to push it to the back of my mind; I'd be trying to figure out what was wrong soon enough, and tonight I should try to enjoy the party.

***

**Lily POV**

In the Gryffindor common room, a party was in full swing. James sat in the middle of the room, basking in everyone's congratulations, Swarna by his side. Someone had managed to blast a mix of the latest music throughout the room, and the rest of the team were scattered throughout the crowd, recounting the best bits of the match and drinking Butterbeer that James had produced earlier. I could hear several people wondering exactly how he had done this, and smiled to myself.

Most of the team were here, anyway. Rose still hadn't arrived. She was probably still talking to Scorpius outside, and I wished she would hurry up and come and join us. I'd been annoyed at her for her suspicions about Tom, but the general atmosphere of celebration made me want to make up with her. I hated fighting with Rose.

Just as this thought occurred, Tom himself appeared with two Butterbeers, one of which he gave me. I smiled my thanks, and he leaned towards me, in order to make himself heard above the din.

He indicated James. 'You brother seems to be enjoying himself, doesn't he?' he said with a grin.

I shook my head. 'If Gryffindor win the Quidditch Cup this year, none of us will EVER hear the end of it.'

'He is a good captain though, you have to admit,' said Tom absently, still staring at James. 'Does he take after your father, like that?'

I nodded. 'My dad was the youngest Seeker Gryffindor had for a century. He was captain too, in his sixth year.'

'Is he proud, that James is following in his footsteps?' was the next question. I'd noticed that Tom seemed very interested in my family, asking questions about my parents every chance he got. I'd put it down to natural curiosity, since he was an orphan, but didn't really feel like answering those questions now.

'Why do you want to know?' I asked lightly, smiling to show I wasn't really offended. 'We're at a party, shouldn't we talk about our parents later?'

His face tightened for a second, then laughed. 'Sorry Lily. So, what do you want to talk about?'

I hadn't actually considered this. 'Um....'

'I can think of something,' he said, and leaned forward and kissed me.

***

**Rose POV**

I had been right about the party; I could hear the music from outside the portrait hole. The Fat Lady glared at me when I said the password, as if my presence at the party would cause the noise level to double, but she grudgingly swung open to let me in.

The first thing I saw was Lily, sitting on one of the tables in the corner.

Kissing Tom.

'_No. No. This isn't happening. It can't be.' _I thought. Yes, I'd known they were dating, but it was usually easy to ignore this disturbing fact, as Lily spent most of her time with us, and they didn't spend much time alone together. I'd hoped they'd decide a relationship wasn't smart, as, after all, the headmistress was trying to send Tom back to his own time, but apparently they hadn't.

Apparently they'd gotten more serious.

And I had no idea what to do about it.

I took a deep breath, pushing past Scott and Mele, who appeared to be too busy flirting to even notice me, and headed straight for the centre of the room, where I could see Helen, Swarna, James and Hugo. I forced myself to look away from Tom and Lily. Interfering with them in public would get me nowhere, I knew. It would only serve to make Lily angry with me and would have the added bonus of letting Tom know I suspected him of something.

'Hey Rose,' said Helen casually. 'Have you seen them?' She indicated Tom and Lily. I knew that, despite her tone, she was trying to find out whether I had gotten past my 'delusions' about Tom or not.

'Well, we all knew it was going to happen,' I replied, forcing a smile and dropping onto the arm of Swarna's armchair.

Swarna, too, looked at me shrewdly, but I ignored her and leaned over to congratulate James. His smile was a mile wide and he immediately launched into an explanation of which of his ideas he felt had worked the best, and his preliminary plans for our final match against Hufflepuff, which wasn't scheduled to take place for months.

I leaned back against the chair, knowing I wouldn't be required to participate in the conversation much. It looked like the research I was going to do the following day would be even more important than I'd realised.

***

The next morning, I awoke at dawn, and spent a couple of hours staring at the ceiling, trying to decide whether or not to speak to Lily again, now that Tom was nowhere near us. I knew I should wait until later, when hopefully I'd have found some information on who Tom actually was, but I really didn't want to. My instincts were telling me I needed to speak to Lily now, especially after what I'd seen the previous night.

If only I could manage to convince one of the others...Helen and Swarna didn't believe me, I knew, but maybe, if I explained the truth to James or Hugo? Or Scorpius...I hated the fact that I'd lied to him, but I'd promised Lily. Now, however, I thought that I should, for Lily's own good.

I continued along this train of thought until the others awoke, then waited until we were all dressed and almost ready to leave before I brought up the subject. No one had yet mentioned Lily and Tom's kiss last night, although Lily was virtually bouncing around the dormitory. I knew they were all trying to avoid this very subject, but I couldn't keep quiet any longer.

'Lily...' I began hesitantly. She looked at me, and I could see in her eyes that she knew where I was going. 'I saw you with Tom last night...and I-'

She cut me off, already sounding angry. 'Rose, _please _do not start all that crap about you thinking something's wrong with Tom again. We've already been through this.'

I tried a different tack. 'Lily, are you sure you want to be in a relationship with him?' I said, trying my hardest to keep my voice sound calm and reasonable. 'You've only known him a few weeks. And at some point he's going to disappear back off to his own time and you're never going to see him again.'

'He might not.' The volume of Lily's voice was increasing with every word, though I really didn't think I'd said that much to upset her. 'He'd rather stay here. He told me last night he'd rather stay here, with me.'

'Lily.' I said, completely exasperated now. 'He's known you for about five weeks, and you think he'd rather stay here than go back to his own life, just because of you? Does him saying that not show you there's something weird about him?'

'Rose, I don't know why you're doing this, but please just stay out of it.' Lily was still angry, but she now also sounded close to tears. 'I wouldn't have thought you'd be jealous, especially now that you're with Scorpius, but I can take care of myself.'

She stalked out of the dorm, slamming the door behind her. Helen and Swarna remained only to glare at me for a second before following her.

I stood there, shaking with anger and disbelief. I hadn't even had a chance to tell her about the way Tom had looked at me during the match, and it didn't look like I'd be able to now. I'd never had such a big fight with Lily. I'd never been in a situation where she, Helen and Swarna didn't believe what I said. What had Tom _done _to them? Why did everyone believe he was so perfect?

It was time to move on to my next plan. Telling Scorpius the truth. At this point, anyone I could get to believe me would help. He could join Lucy and I in searching for records of a Tom Gaudle at Hogwarts.

***

Downstairs, Scorpius was waiting for me in the Entrance Hall as he usually did.

'Are you OK, Rose?' he asked gently, as soon as he saw my face. 'Your friends just came through here, not looking particularly happy.'

'Look, can we just go outside?' I muttered. 'I need to talk to you about something.'

He followed me, looking worried. It was freezing outside, but I barely felt it. I was still in shock after fighting with Lily.

'Scorpius,' I said as soon as we'd left the castle. 'I have to tell you something.'

'You can tell me anything, Rose,' he said, still looking concerned.

I took a deep breath, and told him the whole story. From the truth about Tom, to the suspicions I had about him, to the giant argument I'd just had with Lily. His expression changed from concerned to disbelieving. By the time I'd finished, he looked slightly angry.

'Rose, why didn't you tell me the truth?' he asked, as soon as I'd stopped talking. 'Even when you were talking about being suspicious of Tom before, why didn't you tell me about the Time Turner?'

I avoided his eyes. I knew I should have told him, if not at the beginning, than when I'd gone to him before. 'I promised Lily I wouldn't...' I muttered.

'Rose, I wouldn't have told anyone. You should have trusted me,' he said, sounding more upset than angry.

'I'm sorry, Scorpius, I really am,' I said desperately, not knowing what to say to make this better. 'But do you believe me? About Tom, I mean?'

'Rose, I don't think you've really told me anything new about why you're suspicious of Tom. You saw him from a broom, thirty feet above him. Are you really sure of what you saw?'

'Yes! Scorpius, please believe me!' I was pleading. I couldn't take this again.

'Rose, what you've just told me makes it even more understandable that Tom would have trouble adjusting. Are you sure you're not just feeling protective of your cousin? I agree that maybe her dating him is not the best idea, given that he doesn't belong in this time, but this isn't the way to deal with that.'

Anger bubbled up in me. I could see in his face that he wasn't going to believe me. I checked my watch. It was almost ten. Time to meet Lucy in the library.

'I'm sorry, Scorpius, I have to meet someone.' Again, I avoided his eyes, this time because I couldn't look at him. I'd trusted him to believe me, not take the side of someone who we'd only know for a few weeks.

I raced off, not looking back. I didn't want to see his face.

***

I arrived at the library ten minutes later, trying hard not to cry. What had I just done to our relationship? Why hadn't I told him about Tom from the start? Was he right in thinking that I hadn't trusted him enough?

Lucy was waiting for me, tapping her watch.

'Sorry I'm late,' I said, swallowing hard.

She peered at me, looking almost concerned. 'Is everything OK?'

'Fine,' I replied. 'Let's just get to work.'

And we did. For the next two hours, we scoured every book and record we could find that mentioned Hogwarts in the 1940s. There was no reference to Tom Gaudle anywhere.

'This is useless, Rose,' Lucy said at twelve. 'I'm going to get some lunch. Why don't you give it a rest and come with me?'

'No, thanks,' I replied distractedly, not looking up from the list of old Prefects I was reading. 'You go on.'

Half an hour later, I still had nothing, and was on the verge of giving up myself. I was beginning to think it was strange that someone as obviously intelligent as Tom wasn't mentioned anywhere. Apparently he hadn't been a Prefect, hadn't won any awards, hadn't taken any kind of prestigious jobs at the Ministry...unless. I jolted upright.

What if he hadn't been telling the truth? Lily had said he hadn't been Sorted using the hat, had just automatically entered Gryffindor. What proof did we have that his name was in fact Tom Gaudle? Nothing but his own word, and, if my instincts were correct, he was the type of person to lie. But, if that was true, how was I ever going to find him?

I sat, the book I'd been reading still in front of me, and tried to think it through. He might not have chosen an entirely new name, I reasoned. While it made sense that he would choose a new surname if he had something to hide, would he bother to change his first name? Adopting a new first name would be hugely difficult; it would be much simpler to keep his own.

I felt irrationally excited about this, then realised it really didn't help me much. Not only did I have no proof that his name was actually Tom, even if it was, there were so many Toms in the world that it probably wouldn't really narrow anything down. It was a pretty common name, in fact, I remembered my mother telling me Lord Voldemort had once been called....I froze.

'_No. No. It's not possible. He's dead. It can't be.'_

Unfortunately, the more I thought about it, the more I realised that it could. My Uncle Harry had told us the full story of the wars, deciding a few years ago that we were mature enough to hear it. He'd told us how, in his second year, a teenage Voldemort had possessed my aunt using a diary. And that that Voldemort had had dark hair and eyes. Just like Tom. And he'd come from Hogwarts at about the right time.

Feverishly, I searched the shelves, grabbing a book on Lord Voldemort and flipping through it until I found what I needed. Yes, Tom Riddle has been a Prefect at Hogwarts 1941-43. Lily had pulled Tom back from 1943, and he'd been a sixth year. He was the right age.

The more I thought about it, the more clues I found. The way he seemed so obsessed with the wars, especially the Battle of Hogwarts, his own destruction. The words I'd heard him say in the library, words I hadn't thought about, focusing mainly on the look he'd given me. The way he often asked Lily questions about her parents, especially her father, when we were all together.

The book slipped out of my hand and landed on the table, still open on the page about Voldemort's last few years at Hogwarts. Next second, I was on my feet and sprinting out of the library.

It didn't matter that we'd had a fight. It didn't matter that at the moment she probably didn't want to speak to or even see me. I had to talk to Lily. Now.

**Wow, longer chapter than usual. Please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I've managed to write a chapter while at school! It's a miracle! Hope everyone enjoys this and please PLEASE review. Thanks to oanitg, iworshiptheevilone, XxrandomxX and S K B C for reviewing the last one :D Also, I had to use Scorpius's POV in this chapter. Hope everyone enjoys it. **

**Disclaimer: Not mine. **

I sprinted out of the library as fast as I could, hoping against hope that Lily would be in the common room, and by some miracle, without Tom. I was right, I was sure of it. And Lily would have to believe me. Then she and I could go to the headmistress, get a message to our family, and somehow fix this. I had no idea how, but at the moment the important thing was to get Lily away from him.

On the seventh floor, I barrelled down a secret passage that formed a short cut to the common room that my dad had told me about, then skidded to stop. Standing at the other end of the corridor, looking very cosy, were Tom and Lily. Lily's eyes were red, like she'd been crying, and Tom was leaning in to kiss her.

'LILY!' I yelled, sprinting up. They both turned to look at me in surprise.

Lily sniffed loudly, then glared at me. 'Rose, I really don't want to see you right now. Can you leave us alone please?' she said angrily.

Tom put his arm protectively around her shoulders and looked at me, a faint suspicion detectable in his eyes. I realised Lily had probably told him exactly what I'd said that morning, and my heart sank. It was going to be a lot harder to keep my knowledge from him now.

'Lily, I need to speak to you. In private.' I spoke through gritted teeth, trying to prevent my hand from straying towards my wand, which was tucked inside the waistband of my jeans. Hard as I tried to prevent it, cold fear was spreading through me. Lord Voldemort, albeit a teenage version of him, was standing about five feet away from me and had his arm around my cousin.

'Rose, I asked you to leave,' she replied, folding her arms.

'I can't, Lily. Please. It's really important.' I looked her right in the eye, trying to convey how much I really needed her to trust me right now.

'Fine. Say whatever you need to say. You can say it in front of Tom,' she said, her voice hard.

I almost walked away then. There was no way I could tell her. But something about the look in Tom's eyes stopped me. He was still watching me, far more intensely than the circumstances warranted. If he knew I knew...there was no way I could leave Lily. I tried to calm myself down. I didn't know if he knew I knew. I didn't even know if I was right.

No. I was right. I could feel it, see in the way Tom was watching me now. But there was no way I could say anything....

Acting instinctively, I went for my wand. I had barely raised it when I heard a voice shouting '_Stupefy!'_, and a familiar voice screaming, before I crashed to the floor and everything went black.

***

**An hour later  
Scorpius POV**

All morning, I had been unable to concentrate on anything. The table in front of me was littered with pieces of parchment, all with various essay titles written on them, but I'd been unable to actually start the essays. A pile of textbooks I was supposed to be reading bits of was stacked on the chair next me. My broom was propped against my chair; I'd decided to go flying and gotten halfway to the Quidditch pitch before giving up and returning to the common room.

Rose's face during our fight kept distracting me, pushing its way to the front of my mind, despite how hard I tried to push it away. Yes, she had lied to me. But she'd been keeping a promise to her cousin. And she'd come to me with something she was genuinely worried about, and I hadn't taken her seriously.

Of course, I still didn't think Rose was right about Tom. She was overreacting to what was probably his anger at being stuck in the wrong time bursting through. But she'd still come to me...and I couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that there might be something in what she said. Rose was one of the cleverest people I knew.

I jumped out of my chair. I had to find her, now, and make things right between us. Then we could talk about Tom.

As I clambered through the portrait hole, I walked straight into Lucy, knocking her backwards to the floor.

'Sorry, Luce,' I apologised quickly, reaching to help her up, before continuing on my way. If Rose was in her common room, there was nothing I could do, but if she were in the library, or the Owlery, or outside...

'Scorpius!' Lucy called from behind. I spun around to face her.

'Sorry, Luce, I'm in a hurry.'

I was about to leave again when she said calmly, 'If you're looking for Rose, she's in the library.'

'Thanks!' I replied, and headed off, briefly wondering why Lucy knew where Rose was when they had hated each other for four years, but pushing it to the back of my mind.

***

She wasn't in the Library. She also wasn't in the Owlery, or any of the other places I searched. I spent the afternoon wandering around aimlessly, hoping to bump into her, before heading over to dinner. At least I'd see her there, I thought, and grinned. Rose _never _missed meals.

But she wasn't there. Looking at where she and her family and friends normally sat at the Gryffindor table, I couldn't see her. Lily and Tom weren't there either, I noticed.

Now slightly worried, I headed over to where Helen and Swarna were sitting.

'Hi, Scorpius,' Helen greeted me, smiling. Since Rose and I had gotten together, I'd often sat with them, and we'd all sort of become friends. Normally I would have been happy to talk to Helen, but my feeling of unease had increased.

'Hi,' I said shortly. 'Where's Rose?'

'We don't know,' she replied. No one's seen her all day, and Lily and Tom have disappeared too.'

I dropped onto the bench beside her, wondering whether I was now the one overreacting.

'She's not in the common room?' I'd searched all the other places she'd spent time in, surely...I racked my brains, thinking of places I might have missed.

'The three of them are probably together,' Helen said. She lowered her voice. 'Rose and Lily had a pretty bad fight this morning, Swarna and I are hoping they're off somewhere working it out.'

'Let me guess,' I said heavily. 'Rose thought there was something wrong with Tom, and Lily didn't believe her.'

'That's right,' said Swarna, leaning over to join the conversation. 'How did you know?'

'She told me what she thought, too. I didn't believe her either.'

The three of us stared at each other. I thought I could see the faintest flicker of worry in both their faces. They had doubts, then, like me. They both thought that, ridiculous as it seemed, Rose could be right.

'I'm sure they'll come soon,' said Helen, breaking the silence. Swarna and I nodded, and I reached for a plate, more for something to do than because I was hungry.

***

Rose didn't turn up at dinner, nor did I see her all evening. I'd asked Helen to tell her to meet me in the Entrance Hall at nine the next morning, and tossed and turned in bed that night, trying to decide how to apologise for what had happened between us.

The next day, I dressed by eight, and too nervous to sit in the common room, I was waiting by the stairs at half past. Rose would come, I told myself. And we'd talk it all over.

'What are you doing, Scorpius?' I turned to see Lucy emerging from the dungeons, apparently going for an early breakfast.

I opened my mouth to reply, but was prevented by someone tugging on my arm. I turned to find Helen there, breathing hard, her face ashen.

'Scorpius,' she panted. 'Rose....and Lily.....didn't come back last night. James and Hugo say Tom's disappeared too. They've gone to see the Headmistress, but I thought you'd want to know. Come on, we've got to go!'

She grabbed my arm again and began to drag me up the stairs. I followed, my mind churning, barely registering Lucy behind me, following us up the stairs.

***

**Sunday Morning  
Rose POV **

I woke up slowly, moving my arms and legs to see if it hurt. Everything seemed to be working. I opened my eyes, gasping as the light hit them, then sat up.

What had happened? I remembered a corridor, and Lily, and Tom.._oh. _

In a second I was on my feet, reaching into the waistband of my jeans for my wand, and finding...nothing.

'Rose,' Lily's voice came timidly from behind me. I began to turn around to face her, only to stop short at the sight before me. We appeared to be in a cave, except that this didn't look like an ordinary cave.

In the middle was what looked like a lake, the black water reflecting the pathetic beam of light from the candle that had been left next to it. The sound of the water lapping gently against the banks of the lake sounded exactly like the Hogwarts lake....except I felt further from Hogwarts than I'd ever been.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thanks to everyone for the reviews from last chapter! Hope you all enjoy this one :) Warning: If you happen to be reading Pride and Prejudice, this chapter contains a spoiler to its plot. Read at your own risk. **

**Disclaimer: I own only the plot of this story. I do not own Harry Potter, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Twilight or any of the other books referenced in this chapter. Also, I do not necessarily share the views of the characters who reference them, they were just the views I thought he would have. **

**Hogwarts  
Scorpius POV**

Helen, Lucy and I raced to the stone gargoyle which hid the Headmistresses office, moving so quickly we arrived at the same time as James, Hugo and Swarna. The six of us stood for a second and stared at it, then turned to look at each other.

'Does anyone happen to know...?' James began.

'Nope,' we all spoke together, cutting him off.

'OK,' he said slowly. 'So does anyone have any idea how to...?'

Our expressions apparently answered his question, as his voice trailed off and he went back to staring intently at the door as if willing it to open.

'Why don't we just ask it to let us in?' asked Helen. The rest of us simply moved aside, leaving her standing in front of the gargoyle. She grimaced, but moved slightly closer to it. By this point, my worry was mounting. If we couldn't get in, we weren't going to be able to find Rose.

'Er,' she said, and when the gargoyle did absolutely nothing, she spoke again, louder. 'Er, excuse me?'

She rapped lightly on it with her knuckles, then jumped back hurriedly as it seemed to swell up. A second later, I jumped out of my skin as it the gargoyle began to screech, sounding horribly like some kind of small animal being tortured. As one, the six of us clapped our hands over our ears.

'Someone make it stop!' James bellowed over the din.

'We don't know how!' I heard Hugo retort, before mercifully, the gargoyle stopped screeching.

I looked up to find Headmistress Bones standing in front of us, looking extremely disapproving.

'I don't suppose it occurred to you six that I might have things to do other than come and deal with you angering my gargoyle?' she said, her voice like acid.

'Sorry, Professor.' James had composed himself now, and sounded both mature and polite, in complete contrast to how he'd been acting a few seconds before. 'But we do have a good reason for coming to see you.'

By this point, I felt we'd wasted far too much time.

'Rose is missing. So are Lily and Tom.' I blurted out. 'No one's seen them since yesterday afternoon.'

The Headmistress looked at us for a long moment. Then, sighing, she moved to one side of the entrance and waved us in.

***

'So when none of them turned up yesterday, it worried us, Professor,' finished Swarna earnestly.

We'd recounted the entire story, including the suspicions Rose had had that we'd all dismissed.

Well, all of us but one, anyway. Lucy told us how she'd believed Rose, how they'd been researching in the library in an attempt to find out more about Tom. Apparently Rose had still been at it when Lucy left, which explained how she knew where Rose was. I was astounded that Lucy hadn't told me about any of this, but decided that this really wasn't the time to discuss that.

'So you didn't find anything? Not one reference to Tom Gaudle?' Headmistress Bones asked with raised eyebrows.

'Didn't you ask him anything about himself, Professor? When he first came?' James asked disbelievingly. I knew how he felt. How could our Headmistress have just let Tom join the school without trying to find out anything about him?

She refused to meet any of our eyes. 'Well, at the time I thought it would be a simple enough matter to send him back. But the Ministry are being remarkably slow at finding another Time Turner. At the beginning of term I was sending them owls constantly, trying to hurry them up. But then your father gave me some rather disturbing news...and I'm afraid after that Tom wasn't really my top priority...'

'What news, Professor?' James asked eagerly, leaning forward in his seat.

I leaned forward slightly too, listening closely. This must be why Rose's uncle had been in Hogsmeade when we'd been there. Maybe this news had nothing to do with Rose, but my instincts were telling me it was possible everything was connected. How many conspiracies could Hogwarts hold at once?

'I'm afraid I can't tell you that, Mr Potter. Your father was incredibly insistent on that. Now about Rose and Lily....I'll contact your parents and the Ministry immediately, they may be able to do some sort of Tracking spell. Don't worry, we'll find them in no time.'

At this, all six of us protested at once. I felt sick. We all knew what the Ministry was like. By the time they had approved any kind of action to find Rose and Lily, something serious could have happened to them.

'Before I do any of that, I'll order the house elves to search the castle. You said they had a fight? They're probably around somewhere, talking it through,' she added.

James was on his feet now and practically shouting. 'Professor, that's not true and you know it. They wouldn't have stayed away through the night.'

'Kindly don't shout in this office, Mr Potter,' the Headmistress said sharply. 'I assure you, I will find your sister and cousin. Now if you six could please go back to your common rooms and let me begin.'

Silently, we left her office, and headed off in the vague direction of the Gryffindor common room.

Lucy was the first to speak. 'Listen, I left the library before Rose did,' she said tentatively, obviously not expecting anyone to listen to her. 'What if she found something after I left? Something horrible? And then she went to confront Tom and...' her voice trailed off.

'Wait,' said Swarna practically. 'Are we saying we believe Rose about Tom?'

Everyone looked uncertain, but no one spoke.

'I think I do,' I said, feeling it was better someone said it. 'Rose looked really scared. And she thinks there's something wrong with Tom, and is worried about Lily dating him, and then they all disappear suddenly. I don't think this can be a coincidence.'

Again, I felt we were wasting time by standing around talking, but I had no idea what else we could do.

'We could go to the library and look for whatever Rose found,' suggested Helen desperately. I could tell she felt the same way I did.

'There must be a thousand books in that library, Helen.' James sounded exasperated. 'How on earth are we going to find the one thing Rose found, if she found anything? It's not like anyone else would have been in there on a Saturday who we could ask.'

'Why don't you ask Elliot?' piped up a small voice from behind us.

The six of turned together, to find Albus and his friend Nigel staring at us curiously. I had barely spoken to either of them, as they usually sat with the other first years during meals and in the common room, but they, like the rest of Rose's family, seemed not to mind that I was a Slytherin.

'Who on earth is Elliot?' asked James, sounding even more exasperated now.

'The ghost who haunts the library,' replied Albus, sounding astonished that we didn't know this. 'If you want to know what Rose was doing in there, he might know.'

'There's a ghost who haunts the library?' I chimed in, feeling completely nonplussed. How had I never known this before?

'The old Hogwarts Librarian. He's obsessed with Muggle literature,' Albus explained. 'Headmistress Bones managed to bewitch a set of books so that he could pick them up, and he spends all his time in the library, reading. He might have seen Rose in there, if you want to know what she was doing. Why don't you just ask Rose, though?'

I saw James and Hugo exchange worried looks and realised they hadn't told Albus anything, probably because they felt he was too young to know about any of this. Ignoring this question, James turned around and headed in the direction of the library, and the rest of us followed suit, now accompanied by Albus and Nigel.

The two first years had clearly worked out that something was wrong, as they were silent all the way to library, which made a vast change from their normal chattering selves.

'Right,' said James, as soon as we'd entered. 'Where is this ghost?'

Albus led us to the back of the library. I immediately realised why none of us had ever been here before. It contained a series of very thick books, extremely dull looking books, most of which appeared to have been written by Professor Binns dictating to a house elf.

'Elliot?' called Albus softly. 'Are you here?'

There was a pause, and then the ghost of an elderly wizard floated down from the top of the shelf. He wore spectacles that were falling down his nose, which magnified huge grey eyes. He was carrying a copy of a book called '_Pride and Prejudice' _which I'd never heard of and didn't particularly want to read.

'Can this wait?' he said irritably. 'Lydia just eloped with Wickham! I cannot be detained long from this shocking revelation!'

I glanced at Lucy, but she looked as confused as I did.

'It won't take long, Elliot,' said Albus earnestly. 'My brother just wanted to ask you a few questions.'

James looked slightly alarmed at having been called upon to talk, but bravely took a stab at it.

'Well, sir, I just wanted to ask if you knew....'

'42,' said the ghost unexpectedly. 'Does that answer your question?'

James was now completely at a loss for words.

'Well, no, actually, it doesn't.' I said, stepping forward.

He looked shocked. 'But 42 is the answer to Life itself, young man. Did you not know that? No doubt you were all too busy reading about sparkly vampires....the things they write these days...'

'Look,' I said, close to shouting now. 'Rose Weasley was in here yesterday, sitting...' I looked at Lucy for clarification and she indicated a table 'over there, and we want to know if you knew what she was looking at.'

'WHAT?' roared the ghost. 'You expect me to remember everything every student in this library looks at?'

'Do you remember?' I asked desperately. 'Please, it's important.'

He calmed down slightly. 'You say she sat there yesterday?'

We all nodded frantically.

'Well,' he looked thoughtful. 'The was a girl running out of the library, looking as I imagine Macbeth did when he saw the bloody dagger...or perhaps she looked more like Scrooge when he saw the Ghost of Christmas Past. Hmmm...' He lapsed in a thoughtful silence, clearly pondering this dilemma. I had no idea what he was talking about, but decided to just ignore this and carry on.

'Look, please just tell me what she was looking at. Do you know why she ran out?' I was beginning to think we were never going to get anywhere. Out of the corner of my eye, I could James, who appeared to be slowly turning purple with repressed frustration.

'Oh, yes, she was looking at a book, left it on the table....hmmm maybe she looked more like..?'

'We don't care what she looked like!' James exploded. Elliot looked extremely offended, and he quickly controlled himself. 'Sorry, but could you possibly just tell us which book she left out?' he added, sounding much more civil.

'Well, if you must know,' said Elliot, and floated off towards the table Rose had sat at. We all followed. 'It was that one,' he pointed at a book in the history section. I quickly grabbed it. 'Can I go now? I have important reading to do, you know.'

I barely heard the others thanking him. I was staring, transfixed, at the cover of the book in my hand. _The Life of Tom Marvolo Riddle, otherwise known as Lord Voldemort. _

The book slipped from my hand to the floor. _Tom. _No. It couldn't be.

**Please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Sorry again! I've had exams and unfortunately life got in the way of writing…Hope everyone enjoys the chapter and please please review.**

**Disclaimer: I own only the plot. **

**Rose POV**

I turned to face Lily, my heart pounding. She looked to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

'Rose,' she gasped, her voice hoarse. 'Rose, this is all my fault. I'm so, so sorry…I should have figured out who he was earlier…'

I cut her off. 'It doesn't matter, Lily, we can discuss this later. For now, we have to get out of here.'

'I don't think that's likely to happen,' a smooth voice said from behind me. I whirled around, only to find Tom, leaning casually against the wall of the cave, hands in his pockets, looking as if he was simply waiting to meet a friend. 'There is no way for you to get out of here. You will remain here until your uncle comes after you.'

'Oh, yeah?' I retorted, sounding much braver than I felt. 'And then you'll just let us walk out of here, will you?'

'Well,' he replied, the side of mouth curling into a malicious grin, 'I wouldn't count on that.'

Deliberately turning away from him, I flounced to the side of the lake, and sat down, my back to him. I could hear Lily quietly sobbing in the shadows, and wished I could tell her that I might have a way to get us out of here after all.

When he'd Stunned us, Tom had taken both our wands, and clearly thought that without them, we had no chance of outwitting him. But I did have one last hope. I could feel a small object in the pocket of my jeans, digging into my waist. The mobile phone Swarna had given me last Christmas. The one Uncle George had charmed so it would work anywhere, including Hogwarts. And including caves in unknown locations.

***

**Hogwarts Library  
Scorpius POV**

Slowly, I turned to face the others, the book still in my hand. They all knew the full story of where Tom had come from by now; Swarna had told James and Hugo on the way to see Headmistress Bones. And the moment they saw the book, I could tell they'd come to the same conclusion I had. The same horrific, terrifying conclusion.

'That can't be!' Helen stuttered. 'Tom can't be Voldemort!'

'He is. There's no other explanation.' James sounded grimmer than I'd ever heard him. 'And he's taken Rose and Lily and disappeared. What are we going to do?'

'What's going on? How can Tom be Voldemort?' demanded Albus. I suddenly noticed him and Nigel, their gazes swivelling between the book in my hand and the expression on James' face, and remembered that they knew nothing about any of this.

James and Hugo exchanged glances. 'Albus,' Hugo said carefully. 'Rose and Lily have gone missing, and…well….we think Voldemort took them.'

Albus and Nigel looked more confused than ever. I couldn't say I blamed them. Not wanting to waste time, but recognising that they – especially Albus – had a right to know what was going on, I joined the others in telling the story as quickly as possible.

'Can we come with you to rescue them?' Albus asked eagerly, as soon as we'd finished. 'You're going to find them, aren't you? You're all going?'

James looked briefly round at all of us, his gaze lingering on Lucy and me. I nodded, almost imperceptibly, and saw her do the same out of the corner of my eye. I looked at her in surprise, but she showed no hesitation at wanting to come with us. As for me, I knew I would do whatever it took to get to Rose. For the moment, I was trying hard to avoid the problem that we had no idea where she and Lily actually were.

Albus and Nigel were now staring at James, identical looks of mingled fear and excitement on their faces. James, for his part, looked more than a little worried about taking two eleven year olds to face Lord Voldemort in some unknown location. After a second, his face cleared .

'Actually, Al, it would be much more helpful for us if you two could go to Grimmuald Place, and tell the adults what's going on, so they could start looking for Rose and Lily too. I'm sure we can find some Floo powder.' He looked at the rest of us for support.

Albus and Nigel nodded, and I felt a little of the burden fall off my shoulders. Surely the remaining members of the Order of the Phoenix would be able to find Rose and Lily? Despite this, I knew I would still be doing everything in my power to find Rose, and I could see similar expressions on the faces of the others.

'OK, then,' said Hugo, taking charge. 'I say half of us try and find some Floo powder and send Albus and Nigel to Grimmauld Place. The other half try and work out where Rose and Lily might be by…um….' he trailed off, obviously unable to come up with any ideas. I couldn't blame him, I was drawing a blank on this particular problem myself.

'Well,' offered Helen, 'Tom's only about seventeen, isn't he? So he'll have spent most his time at Hogwarts, and as we know they aren't here, surely there are limited number of places he can have taken them? Maybe looking up what his life was like as teenager would help,' she finished indicating the book in my hand. James nodded at her approvingly, smiling slightly.

'Wait,' I said slowly, something occurring to me. 'How do we know they aren't in the castle? How can we sure they aren't in a secret passage or something?'

Lucy looked as if she thought this was a fair question, but the others looked slightly embarrassed.

'They're not.' said James briefly. 'I've got…er…a map my father gave me. It shows the location of everyone in the castle and grounds at any given moment. We've already triple checked it. They aren't here.'

'Wow,' Lucy breathed. 'I'd love to see that.'

Despite being just as fascinated by the description of the map as she was, I kept focused on Rose, and could see James doing the same thing.

'I'll show you, after this is over,' he promised, looking at Lucy. I realised the fact that she was willing to try and help rescue his sister and cousin must have drastically changed the way he thought of her.

It was decided that James, Swarna and I would take Albus and Nigel to find some Floo powder, leaving Hugo, Lucy and Helen in the library to try and discover where Tom could have taken them. I didn't think it likely they would find much, but I didn't have any better ideas.

I didn't have time to think about this, as our own problems began the moment we left the library. James and I instinctively headed for the staircase, only to notice after about two steps that no one was following us.

'Um, guys?' said Swarna from behind us. 'Where are you planning on getting Floo Powder?'

That stopped us both in our tracks. 'Well…'James offered weakly. 'I suppose we just thought we'd…er….go and have a look upstairs.'

Swarna shot her boyfriend a scathing look, and he trailed off.

'Because I was thinking,' she continued. 'The only place in this school where there will definitely be Floo Powder is Headmistress Bone's office.'

'Well, let's go!' James bounded off in the direction of the staircase before anyone could stop him.

I looked at Swarna. 'OK, guess I'll just point out the obvious problem when we get there then,' she sighed.

***

By the time the rest of us reached the stone gargoyle, James was standing in front of it, staring at in silent contemplation. After what had happened that morning, he seemed reluctant to wake it up, especially as we knew the headmistress wasn't inside the office to come and stop it screaming.

'I see you found the obvious problem,' said Swarna innocently. He glared at her briefly, then turned back to the gargoyle.

'I suppose we'll either have to guess the password, or find someone who knows it,' he said. 'Anyone know anyone who's ever been sent to see the headmistress? Or any useful ghosts?' he added as an afterthought, turning to Albus and Nigel.

We all looked blank. 'OK, you three start guessing, I'll go and ask the house elves or something.'

'Why on earth would they know?' Swarna asked, looking as doubtful at the soundness of this plan as I felt.

'Well, if they don't, they may be able to Apparate me in or something.' James replied. 'They have special powers, don't they?'

Swarna looked as impressed as I felt. 'OK, you go try that, but hurry,' she said, reminding me that we were wasting a lot of time here.

He turned to leave, but before he could go anywhere, a female voice came from behind us.

'What are you all doing?'

I turned around, and only just managed to prevent myself groaning. Suzy Edgecombe stood before us, flicking her long hair over her shoulders and staring at us curiously.

'This isn't the time, Suzy.' James said gruffly, trying to push past her, but she moved in front of him. Swarna was glaring at her. Rose had told me what had happened at Grimmauld Place over Christmas, and I knew this meeting must be just as awkward for James and Swarna as it was for me, if not more.

'Wait,' she said, folding her arms across her chest. 'Are you trying to get into Headmistress Bones' office?'

No one said anything, but she could apparently read the answer on our faces, as added, indicating the gargoyle.

'Why don't you just wake it up? She'll come when she hears it.'

'She's not in there,' said James shortly. 'Will you let me past, please?'

'Well, where is she then?' Suzy pressed

Ignoring this, James tried again to get past her, but she sidestepped him yet again.

'And why do you want to get in?' she asked.

'That's really none of your business,' James said, now sounding truly irritated.

'Oh, really?' she replied, raising her eyebrows. 'What if I told you I knew the password?'

That stopped him in his tracks. I opened my mouth, but James beat me to it.

'Suzy, please, I'm begging you,' he said quietly, looking her straight in the eye. 'Tell us the password. It's urgent.'

She took an involuntary step back. 'No,' she said, but her voice shook slightly, and she didn't sound sure of herself.

I could feel Swarna tensing next to me, ready to explode if Suzy didn't give in, and felt it was time I stepped into the fray.

'Suzy,' I said, trying to keep my voice calm. '_Please. _We need to know the password.'

She looked at me for a second, then nodded slightly.

'OK, I'll tell you,' she said, and all five of us breathed a sigh of relief.

'As long as you tell me what's going on,' she added.

At this, Swarna did actually lose her cool, drawing her wand.

'Just open that door, before I hex you,' she snarled. Suzy made to draw her own wand, and I hurriedly stepped between them, rapidly making a decision. Having one more person know would hurt less than wasting time duelling or asking house elves to help us get in.

'OK, we'll tell you,' I said to Suzy. 'Just let us in, we don't have time to waste here.'

She looked at me doubtfully. '

'Suzy, I promise I will tell you everything, just let us in.' I said desperately. We weren't moving fast enough.

She looked at me for a second more, than turned to the gargoyle. '_Starlight,' _she said clearly, and the gargoyle silently moved aside.

James, Swarna, Albus and Nigel immediately began sprinting up the spiral stairs. Sighing, I indicated that Suzy should go first, and, as we climbed, told her the full story in as few words as possible.

By the time we reached the top, she was gobsmacked, but I really didn't have time to help her process anything. Instead, I hurried to the fireplace, where James had already thrown a pinch of Floo Powder into the fire.

'You might as well go together, you're small enough,' he said, ushering Albus and Nigel into the fire. The two eleven year olds linked arms, then Albus yelled the destination, and they were gone.

James turned back to Swarna and I. 'OK, they've gone, adults know, let's go see if the others have any ideas.'

As one, we turned and sprinted back to the library.

*******

**Grünwald Palace, Germany **

At the top of one of the Palace towers, a disused fireplace suddenly filled with flames that burnt a bright emerald – a colour than no one in the district had ever seen before.

There was a pause, and then out of the fireplace tumbled two very small, very confused eleven year old boys.

***

**Rose POV**

As subtly as I could, I wormed my hand into my pocket and slid the phone out, immediately dropping it between my crossed legs. There was no way to fully disguise the light of the screen, but if I could just prevent Tom noticing for two minutes…

I was more proficient at using the phone than Helen and Lily, but was by no means good at it. For obvious reasons, I couldn't risk phoning the others, but Swarna had attempted to teach me another process, one apparently called 'texting', in which text could be sent from one phone to the other. I had never really understood the point of it, but did so now. Keeping the phone between my legs, I pressed the buttons as rapidly as possible, not even bothering to check if I was doing it right. I quickly hit the button Swarna had assured me would send the message, and selected her name from the list, watching in relief the message went.

'Rose!' Tom's voice came from the other side of the cave, sharp as a knife. 'What's that light?'

***

**Scorpius POV**

Helen, Hugo and Lucy looked up at our approach. My heart sank; I could tell by their faces they hadn't found anything.

'Did you send them?' asked Helen. 'And wait, what's _she _doing here?'

I turned, only to discover that Suzy had followed us from the office.

'What do you think you're doing, Suzy?' asked James furiously.

'I'm coming with you,' she said smoothly. 'I'd say you could use all the help you could get.'

James opened his mouth, probably to start vetoing this, but we were interrupted by an unnatural, high-pitched noise, the likes of which I'd never heard before.

'What on earth is that?' asked Lucy, looking around.

'It's my phone,' said Swarna hollowly, holding up a strange looking object which appeared to be emitting light. 'It's a message from Rose.'

**Please review! If you want to know who Suzy is, or how Rose got the phone, please read my other fic, Changes, with is the prequel to this one. And I really will try and update soon. **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Exams are over! And I'm pretty sure I completely failed them, so I am taking my mind off the imminent results by writing another chapter :) Enjoy! And please don't forget to review…it will take you thirty seconds and would make me so happy. **

**Disclaimer: I really wish I owned the Harry Potter world, but sadly all I own are my crappy exam results. **

**Scorpius POV  
Hogwarts Library  
**

The scene seemed momentarily frozen. Everyone was staring at Swarna. Even James appeared to have been distracted from yelling at Suzy.

'Well?' I said impatiently as Swarna stared at her phone. 'What does it say?' Fear was flooding through my chest. If Swarna didn't want to say, it must be pretty bad.

'Swarna?' asked Helen quietly, putting a hand on her arm. I could hear the worry in her voice. 'What does it say?'

Swarna looked up, a puzzled look on her face. 'I….don't know,' she said.

'How did she manage to send you a message anyway?' asked James curiously. 'I thought those things worked by pressing numbers and being able to hear each other talk?'

'You can send text to each other,' said Helen impatiently. 'What does it say, Swarna?'

'Send text? What on earth is the point of that?' persisted James. Despite my worry for Rose, I felt a slight tinge of curiosity.

'So you can send for help in situations like this, obviously' snapped Helen impatiently. She turned back to Swarna. 'How can you not know what it says?'

Swarna held out the phone. 'I think Rose sent this in a hurry….I don't think she checked what she was typing….'

Not willing to wait any longer, I impatiently snatched the phone out of her hand and examined it. There was no visible message on it that I could see.

'Other side, Scorpius,' said Swarna gently, taking it out of my hand and turning it over.

Now I could see it. A large, square surface on the top of the phone was illuminated, and words were indeed printed on it. Or what looked like words. To be precise, what the message actually said was 'tom is toledort im baud with jake'

I barely had a second to react before James grabbed the phone from my hand, stared at it briefly, and then roared 'Who the hell is Jake?!'

'How can you even be sure this is from Rose?' I practically exploded at Swarna, ignoring him. This message got us nowhere. It made no sense at all.

'It's her number,' said Swarna briefly, and, as I started to reply, 'Look, I don't have time to explain how the phone works, but I know its her, all right?'

Reluctantly, I accepted this, and she continued, 'I know what Rose did when she was sending this, and we can work out what she meant, but it may take some time.'

'We don't have time,' I said through gritted teeth, and she rounded on me.

'Unless we decipher this, message, Scorpius, we can't get anywhere. Unless you have some miraculous way of finding them?'

I opened my mouth, closed it again, and nodded briefly. 'How do we work it out?'

Swarna began to explain the concept of something she referred to as 'predictive texting'. It was one of the most complicated things I'd ever heard of. Apparently it was so complicated her own phone couldn't even do it, as it had a full keyboard (I stopped even trying to understand at this point), which meant we'd have to figure out what words could be formed from various letter combinations, which she wrote on bits of parchment and handed round. I stared at mine, internally groaning. While I'd always enjoyed puzzles, now was not the time.

'Well,' offered James weakly. 'The first word is Tom.'

**Rose POV**

I made to hurriedly stash the phone out of sight, but Tom was there in a second, holding his hand out.

'Rose.' The mere sound of my name sent chills up and down my spine. His voice was like ice. His eyes were flashing, and perhaps for the first time, I fully appreciated exactly what we were dealing with. I swallowed, suddenly hoping my friends and family would turn up soon with some genius, well thought out, foolproof plan.

'Give me that.' I suddenly realised, with a desperate flash of hope, that he wouldn't be able to recognise the phone for what it was. And my plea for help had already been sent. He wouldn't be able to do anything. Still, I was reluctant to hand over my only weapon. I could use it to convey more information to Swarna, if Tom let anything slip.

'Rose,' he said again, then whipped his want out, pointing it at Lily, who was still huddled in the corner. 'Give me that, or I'll hurt her.'

'Don't give it to him, Rose,' Lily said hoarsely, holding her head up a fraction higher. I felt a sudden rush of affection for her, but was already holding the phone out to Tom. I couldn't watch her get hurt.

Tom took the phone from my hand, and stared at it, turning it over in his hands.

'What is this?' he asked, his eyes locking with mine. I suddenly remembered my uncle telling me Voldemort had been skilled at Legilimency, and looked down, breaking eye contact.

'Tell me.' His voice was deathly quiet, and his wand rose again, this time pointing at me.

***

**Grünwald Palace, Germany**

Climbing out of the fireplace, Albus and Nigel stood up, dusted themselves down, and proceeded to look around the tower in which they had emerged.

There was a pause.

'Um, Al?' asked Nigel, in a small voice. 'I think we may have come out of the wrong fireplace.'

***

**Scorpius POV  
Hogwarts Library**

Fifteen minutes later, we had ascertained that the first part of the message meant 'Tom is Voldemort.' Even though we had already known this, having confirmation of it was enough to double the size of the ice block that was currently residing in my stomach.

We still hadn't worked out the identity of the mysterious Jake, nor had we any idea what Rose meant by saying she was a baud. I stared desperately at the page, the letters swirling around in front of my eyes. The first one had to be an A, a B or a C, and so did the second one….that could make…AB…CA….and then I saw it.

'Cave!' I shouted, leaping out of my chair, and making everyone jump. 'She means 'in cave' not 'im baud!'''

Swarna looked incredibly relieved. 'That's brilliant, Scorpius!' she said, smiling warmly.

'Wait,' James interrupted. 'We still don't know who 'Jake' is.'

'Does it matter?' Hugo asked. 'There's only one cave it could be.'

He grabbed the biography of Voldemort I'd found earlier and began rifling through its pages.

'Yep, when he was a child, he was in a Muggle orphanage, and took two children with him to a cave on the south coast, where he terrorised them.' He looked up, his eyes shining. 'It must be that cave! I remember Uncle Harry described it as having a lake inside, with a Horcrux in the middle.'

Now it was Swarna's turn to jump out of her seat. 'That'is it! Lake! Not Jake!'

James looked profoundly relieved at hearing that there wasn't in fact a person named Jake now involved in the situation. I had to admit that I felt slightly relieved as well. The fewer people we had to rescue the better.

'Right,' said Helen practically. 'Where is this cave?'

Hugo consulted the book again. 'It's just outside Brighton, on a particularly dangerous stretch of coastline. Apparently Muggles avoid it, due to a number of accidents that have taken place there.'

'How do we get there?' I asked breathlessly. Finally, we could move.

'Apparition,' said Suzy abruptly, and I started. I'd almost forgotten she was there. 'James, Hugo and I can take the rest of you by Side-Along Apparition, if we get outside of the grounds.'

We all looked at each other, then, as one, sprinted for the door.

***

Five minutes later, having managed to sneak through the gates one by one using a broomstick and James' Invisibility Cloak – which I hadn't even realised he had – we were standing outside of the Hogwarts grounds, in a place we could Apparate from.

James dumped the broomsticks on the ground, the quickly covered them with the Cloak, before coming back to the rest of us and taking Swarna's arm. Helen and Lucy each grabbed Hugo, leaving me to link arms with Suzy.

James took a deep breath. 'OK everyone, let's go.'

'We're really doing this,' said Lucy, locking eyes with me.

I nodded, but before I could reply, Suzy turned, pulling me with her. Everything went black.

***

A few seconds later, we materialised on thin strip of beach. I gasped for breath and felt the sea air enter my lungs, then looked up to see the dark, gaping mouth of a cave in front of us. We stood for a second, in a row, looking up at it, then I braced myself and led the way in.

**Please review :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: OK so penultimate chapter! I really hope everyone enjoys it, and please review, as it makes my day. Also, I'm starting to think about what to do when I finish this. Would people like Changes and Out of Time to become a trilogy? Remember, I won't know if you want one more part unless you review and tell me! Also, the fight scene was much harder to write than I thought it would be, so please don't flame – although all constructive criticism is welcomed. And lastly, happy birthday to Elli :-)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own it. If I did Dobby would be alive, and I wouldn't have to take A levels. **

**Grünwald Palace, Germany**

Albus and Nigel stared at one another in horror for a second, before promptly diving away from the fireplace as there was a crash and the fire turned emerald green once again. Seconds later, an official looking wizard in smart black robes stepped out of the fire, holding a long piece of parchment.

He paused, straightened his robes, then looked at the boys over the top of his glasses.

'Albus Severus Potter and Nigel Spartacus Montgomery, you are hereby under arrest for Unaccompanied Underage International Use of Floo Powder without express permission from the Ministry of Magic,' he droned, sounding like he arrested underage wizards in foreign countries several hundred times a day. 'I'm going to need the pair of you to come with me.'

The boys could do nothing but make vague noises of protest before he took them firmly by the arm and pulled them back into the fire.

**Unknown location, near Brighton  
Scorpius POV**

Taking a deep breath, I plunged into the darkness of the cave, only pausing to pull my wand out of the pocket of my jeans, raising it in front of me. I muttered '_Lumos_' under my breath, illuminating the way ahead, deeper into the cave.

Or at least what I thought would be the way ahead. I had barely made it five steps into the cave when I had to stop, blocked why what appeared to be a solid stone wall. The others had followed me in, and Helen bumped right into me. In typical comic book style (the only part of the Muggle world I'd ever been vaguely interested in), everyone else proceeded to bump into her.

As I raised my wand higher to illuminate the wall, I could hear James' voice behind me: 'Hey! Why have we stopped?'

**Rose POV **

I heard Lily gasp as Tom moved slightly closer, his wand pointing directly at my heart.

'I won't ask you again, Rose,' he said, his voice cold as ice.

I held my head a little higher, meeting his eyes. I knew I shouldn't, in case he tried to pull the answer from my mind, but it felt easier to be brave while looking at him.

'I'm not going to tell you,' I said, sounding much calmer than I felt.

'Did you tell someone you were here?' his eyes were flashing now, a truly inhuman look of anger on his face.

I simply stared straight into his eyes, not answering. Something in his face tightened, and he raised his want a fraction.

'_Cru-' _he started, but was interrupted by a giant crash and a muffled expletive.

**Scorpius POV**

As the cave was wide enough for us all to stand side by side – I had no idea why we'd entered in single file – everyone had now come forward to stare at the stone wall with me, but despite the intensity of our gazes, it remained resolutely blank.

'Um, maybe there's a password?' Suzy volunteered. 'Or maybe we're wrong?'

'We're not wrong,' said Hugo seriously, looking as if he was trying hard to remember something. 'I remember our uncle told us about this cave – he said there were tests to enter – I'm just trying to remember…'

James was now leaning against the wall, kneading his forehead with his hands, apparently also trying to remember. 'Blood!' he suddenly yelled, looking up triumphantly. 'We have to put blood on the wall, and we'll be able to get through.'

Without hesitation, without even thinking, consumed by my desire to get to Rose, I rubbed my left wrist on a piece of jagged rock sticking out of the wall of the cave. Barely noticing the pain, I held it out to the wall, and a few drops of blood fell from my wrist, landing on the stone.

The wall disappeared.

**Rose POV**

Tom whipped around, turning towards the back wall of the cave, which I could now see had vanished. Framed in the gap stood Swarna, Helen, Hugo, Lucy, Scorpius and _Suzy. _I had no idea why she was there, but really didn't care at the moment. A second later, I noticed James, lying on the floor. Apparently he'd been leaning on the wall when it disappeared.

Ridiculous as it sounded, I actually stifled a laugh at this point. Some things never changed.

A second later, however, my momentary feeling of relief had vanished as Tom turned his wand on Scorpius, standing in the middle of the gap. He didn't say anything, nor did his expression change – as far as I could see anyway – but suddenly a flash of purple light burst from his wand. I gasped involuntarily, but a second later the light was deflected by a burst of red light from Scorpius' wand. He hadn't yet spoken a word, but he kept his gaze on Tom's, his wand steady in front of him. Lucy stepped up close behind her, her wand pointing directly at Tom.

Then suddenly there were bursts of light everywhere. I could hear eight different voices shouting spells, and I could barely see anything. Tom seemed able to predict everyone's every move, and was deflecting spells without a word. It didn't help that no one on our side except Scorpius and Lily had been able to master non verbal spells, especially as Lily had no wand.

Unable to help without a wand, I rolled sideways to avoid a Stunning Spell, ending up in the shadows next to Lily. I spun quickly around to watch the battle, just in time to see a jet of red light – I couldn't even tell who had had conjured it – bounce off the wall of the cave and hit Swarna head on. Lily screamed, but, ignoring her, I sprinted towards Swarna, ducking several jets of multicoloured light.

Grabbing Swarna by the arm, I dragged her towards the wall, out of the way of the main battle, her wand clutched in my other hand. I groped frantically at her wrist, and relief such as I'd never felt before coursed through my body as I felt the pulse, strong and steady. She was only Stunned then. But I had a wand now, and I could try and help.

Positioning myself in front of Swarna so as to protect her from further reflected spells, I turned around just in time to see James, livid with anger after the attack on his girlfriend, hurl four Stunning Spells, one after the other, straight at Tom.

It still wasn't enough. Tom deflected them, sending them spinning in four opposite directions, illuminating the entire cave. I could see Helen on the banks of lake, clutching her ankle, but otherwise looking relatively unharmed, and Suzy, near her, scrambling to her feet, a gash clearly visible on her cheek. Then I saw a twinkle of light reflect off the water, and my eyes snapped back to Tom. For a split second, I saw the glint of metal around his neck, before the light died away.

Tom turned on me, his wand slashing downwards so fast I could hear the air hiss. Before his spell could hit me, Scorpius had knocked me sideways, sending me sprawling across the floor with the wind knocked out of me, before getting in the chest with the streak of purple flames that erupted from Tom's wand.

'SCORPIUS!' I screamed, crawling desperately towards him. I grabbed his hand, then turned back to Tom, raising Swarna's wand. Before I even had time to formulate a spell though, James, apparently still maddened by anger, pointed his wand at the ceiling and bellowed 'REDUCTO!'

It felt like an earthquake. The roof of the cave was blown apart and I instinctively threw myself sideways, ending up draped over Scorpius' body, in order to avoid the falling rocks. In the midst of all the confusion, a second jet of relief pulsed through me; he, too, had a pulse, although it was much weaker than Swarna's – he'd been hit by something I could tell was much more powerful than a Stunning Spell.

My relief was short-lived, however. Through the showers of rocks still falling on us, I could just about see Tom, still on his feet. And then another figure, Lily, staggering to her feet behind him and grabbing something around his neck. Again, I saw the glint of gold. There was a pause that seemed to last a lifetime. And then they were gone.

**Lily POV  
79 years ago**

In the light generated by the Stunning Spells, I'd seen the necklace around Tom's neck. I hadn't known how he'd got it, but I'd known then what I had to do. And when I found the right moment, I'd done it.

I'd spun the Time Turner as fast as I could, 79 times, counting it as carefully as I could, praying that Tom would have magically altered the it so it turned back years instead of days. And it looked like he had. We were still in the cave, but there was no magic wall, no lake. Unfortunately, we were still linked together by the Time Turner chain that looped around both our necks. One good thing had come of this, however. Tom's body was pressed against mine, and I could feel my wand sticking out of his pocket.

Tom, blinked, slightly disorientated, and I took my chance. Quick as a whip, I reached into his pocket and grabbed my wand, grabbing Rose's at the same time. I was slightly incredulous that he hadn't destroyed them, but was at that moment deeply thankful for his arrogance in believing there was no way we could ever get them back.

Seeing what I was doing, Tom raised his own wand, but with a flick of my own, I petrified him, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief that I had already mastered non verbal spells. At this close a range, he had no chance to block it.

Tom's body stiffened as his arms and legs snapped to his sides, and he fell against me. Quickly, I slid the Time Turner over his head, laying him on the floor. I'd picked _Petrificus Totalus _for a reason – I knew he'd be able to hear me.

I'd brought him back for a reason, too. If he'd stayed in our time, someone would have killed him. And that couldn't happen. It would change too much.

I took a deep breath, staring at him, lying on the floor. Only his eyes were moving, staring at me. I didn't want to admit it to myself, but I knew I'd brought him back for another reason. I still had feelings for him. Not for Lord Voldemort, but for the person I'd thought he was.

There still remained one thing to do before I returned to my own time and my family and friends.

'Tom, I'm sorry about this, I really am,' I said quietly. I raised my wand, pointed it at him, and muttered '_Obliviate.' _I'd always been good at Memory Charms, and with that one erased from Tom's memory everything that had happened since he'd come to the future, everything that had happened since he'd met me.

His eyes widened, then went blank. I took a deep breath. Now to unfreeze him – I couldn't leave him like this.

I performed the counter charm, the fingers of my other hand already spinning the Time Turner, more slowly this time. I couldn't afford to go back to the wrong time now.

Tom sat up slowly, rubbing his head and staring at me.

'Who are you?' he asked, sounding confused. I couldn't blame him.

'Lily Potter,' I said, without thinking, only knowing I couldn't leave without saying anything. I knew he'd probably think he was dreaming anyway – people with Memory Charms performed on them were always disorientated immediately afterward. Then I reached the 79th turn, and felt myself begin to travel through time once again.

**Tom POV**

I was in a cave I vaguely remembered from my childhood, and I had no idea why or how I'd got there. I also had the strange sense that someone had been there with me, as I'd woken up, but could remember very few details. Only one word had stuck in my head – something she'd said. _Potter. _

**Hope everyone enjoyed it :) There will definitely be one more chapter to wind everything up. Please don't forget to review and tell me if you want one more…**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: **I'**m so sorry everyone! Exams and university applications have kept me from writing for a while now. I've just gotten back into it on my other account, which is joint with my friend (if you like The Vampire Diaries, please check it out! Yamaha-117 and the story is Nineteenth Century Twins. And I actually am managing regular updates now!) and I've come back to finish this story. There will be a more complete A/N at the end of this :-), but I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and have enjoyed this entire story, and the one before. If you enjoy it, please take the time to leave a quick review :) **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

**Unknown location, near Brighton**

**Lily POV**

A few seconds of that dizzying, disorientating sensation, and I was back in the remains of the cave, surrounded by giant chunks of rock dislodged by James and his Reductor curse. My friends were gathered in a corner, surrounding Scorpius, who was still unconscious, although someone, probably James, had apparently revived Swarna.

'I think he'll be fine, Rose,' I heard Hugo saying. 'We'll take him back to Hogwarts. Madam Pomfrey'll sort him out.' The relief in his voice showed exactly how far he'd come since Scorpius's presence at our table had seemed awkward at the start of this term. It felt like years ago.

I took a deep breath as I scrambled to my feet, fighting off the waves off emotion that threatened to break me. There'd be time to break down later. For now, I'd done what needed to be done, and the important thing was to get back to Hogwarts.

Rose, who was leaning over Scorpius's unconscious form, holding both his hands in her own, suddenly looked up, her eyes meeting mine. And then she was running at me, and we were hugging as tightly as if we'd been apart for years.

'I'm so sorry, Rose.' I murmured into her shoulder. 'I should have believed you. I should have known.'

She squeezed me tighter, rubbing my back gently. 'Lily, it's OK. All that matters is that we're all safe.'

I could feel tears trickling down my cheeks as we broke apart, and Rose gently squeezed my hand, leading me back to the others. My brother stepped forward.

'Lily.' That was all he said, but I'd never heard so much emotion in his voice. Then we were all hugging, people trying not trip over Scorpius, and I had a feeling I wasn't the only one crying.

A sudden crash from behind us broke us all apart, and, as one, we turned to see my parents, Aunt Hermione, Uncles Ron and George, and Teddy standing in a row, lighted wands still raised, looking absolutely astounded. And peeking out from behind them, looking simultaneously excited and terrified, were Al and Nigel.

''What, exactly, is going on here?' my father asked, stepping forward and using his wand to illuminate every corner of the cave as if he thought someone might be hiding in a corner. Once he'd established its emptiness, he turned back to us, looking furious. I realised suddenly how this must look. Scorpius was blocked from view by the rest of us, and to the adults, it must appear as though we'd blasted apart this cave for no reason at all.

'How did you know where we were?' stammered James, clearly playing for time.

'We got a summons from the Ministry saying these two had been found in Germany on their own and were under arrest,' answered Aunt Hermione grimly. 'They seemed to be under the impression Rose and Lily had been kidnapped and the rest of you had come after them. They insisted we go with them to the Hogwarts Library, where a ghost – very rudely, I might add, he seemed very upset to be disturbed from his reading – pointed us to a book about this cave.'

James looked at Al and Nigel. 'You went to Germany?' There was a mixture of surprise and pride in his voice.

'This is not a joke!' Uncle Ron, who was slowly turning his trademark shade of purple, exploded. 'There's things going on that we haven't told you about, and leaving school on your own is incredibly dangerous!'

This had gone on long enough. I stepped forward, facing up to the adults.

'The others are here because of me.' I said clearly. 'Rose and I were kidnapped. We were kidnapped by Lord Voldemort.'

That shocked them into silence. Behind me, Rose moved aside so that Scorpius came into view.

'We'll tell you everything,' she said, coming to stand beside me. 'But right now, we need to get Scorpius to the Hospital Wing.'

**Hogwarts Hospital Wing**

**Half an hour later**

Once we'd told them the truth, the adults had snapped into action, Apparating us back and bringing Scorpius straight to Madam Pomfrey, the ancient matron who'd been at Hogwarts since their time.

Now, in the hospital wing, everyone was talking at once, very loudly and at top speed as they all tried to give the adults – who-d been joined by Headmistress Bones - the full story. Madam Pomfrey was leaning over Scorpius, spooning potion into his mouth and displacing Rose from his bedside. She immediately came over to me.

'You took him back?' she asked under her breath. I nodded mutely, my hand automatically going to the necklace that still glinted around my neck. It was taking every ounce of strength I had not to burst into tears.

'I wiped his memory.' I said, my voice shaking slightly. 'He won't remember anything about this…he won't…remember me.'

Rose was hugging me again, whispering soothingly in my ear 'You can remember him as Tom, Lily. As the guy you cared about.'

She released me, shielding me from everyone else for long enough to allow me to wipe my face discreetly on my sleeve. Just then, the noise stopped.

'Lily?' my mother asked gently. 'What happened when you took Vol-_Tom_ back to his own time?'

Everyone was staring at me expectantly and I realised they must have told the story up to the point where Tom and I had disappeared from the cave.

I lifted my chin. 'I couldn't leave him here to be killed,' I said, my voice a lot stronger than I felt. 'That would have changed too much about the past. I wiped his memory. None of this will have any impact on him.'

I saw my father's hands clench slightly on the arm of his chair and realised how much he would have wanted a chance to kill Voldemort as a teenager – to prevent the wars. My mother shot him a warning look.

'Lily's right,' she said. 'What she did…that was the best possible thing she could have done. And we're proud of you kids…all of you,' she continued, looking round and making sure to include Scorpius, Lucy and Suzy in her gaze,' but next time tell us what's going on in a more accurate way then sending 11 year olds off through fireplaces on their own.'

There was a general laugh at this, and everyone relaxed slightly, several people asking Al and Nigel for details on what exactly had happened to them in Germany.

Madam Pomfrey, having finished with Scorpius, was now examining everyone else and healing all their superficial wounds. I could feel the atmosphere of the room generally relaxing as it sunk into everyone that the whole thing was truly over, that no one had been seriously hurt. I could hear Lucy reminding James of his promise to show her the Marauder's Map, and his good natured agreement, one of his hands around Swarna's shoulders. Helen and Hugo were sharing a chair, her head on his shoulder (that was an interesting development). Suzy was talking animatedly to Al and Nigel, and they were laughing at something she'd said, all animosity between her and our family apparently forgotten. Meanwhile, Rose was leaning over Scorpius.

They were all allowing things to go back to normal, and I was happy for them. But somehow, I wasn't ready yet. Muttering something about needing fresh air, I got up so fast my chair almost fell over and headed out, ignoring the commotion that had sprung up around Scorpius's bed.

**Rose POV**

A noise from Scorpius's bed dragged my eyes from Lily – I was worried about her, knowing how she'd felt about Tom – and I turned to see that he showed signs of waking up. Immediately, I reached for his hand.

'Scorpius? Can you hear me?' I asked, searching his face for signs of movement. I wouldn't feel properly safe, properly happy, until he woke up.

His eyelids fluttered, and my heart leapt. 'Rose?' he murmured.

'Scorpius!' I practically yelled, joy and relief flooding my body. Everyone else immediately broke off their conversations, crowding around me. Predictably, the noise started up again as everyone tried to greet him, but I ignored it, my eyes fixed on his. Finally, they opened, and our gazes locked, his eyes roving up and down my face. I could see happiness in his eyes that mirrored my own, and my heart leapt.

'Everyone, back! He needs rest!' Madam Pomfrey forced her way through the crowd, pushing everyone away. When she got to Lucy and I, however, who were closest to the bed, Scorpius reached out to stop her.

'They can stay' he said, his voice weak, but clear nonetheless.

Grudgingly, she agreed, and went back to fixing up everyone else. Lucy and I remained on either side of the bed.

'Is everyone OK? Where's Tom?' he asked, in the same weak voice.

'Everyone's fine,' I said softly, brushing a lock of hair off his forehead. 'And Tom's gone. Lily took him back. You should sleep.'

A smile had lit his face when he heard that everything had worked out, but he was clearly exhausted, and a few seconds later had allowed himself to fall back into sleep. I remained where I was, and could tell from the expression on Lucy's face that she intended to do the same, to stay by her best friend. A few weeks ago, this would have made me jealous, but now I smiled at her as our eyes met, knowing that, somehow, we were now friends.

'Hey guys?' Helen's voice interrupted my reverie. 'Where's Lily?'

**Lily POV**

I stood outside on the banks of the lake, so like the one we'd just left, shivering slightly in the evening breeze, the Time Turner clutched in my hand.

I was no longer crying, but could still feel the pain of everything that had happened tearing me apart inside. I had cared about Tom. I had been falling in love with him.

Rose's voice echoed in my head. '_You can remember him as Tom, Lily.'_ That was what I'd have to do. Try and remember Tom, not Voldemort. Remember the person I'd thought he was, but at the same time, put this entire thing behind me.

I could do it. I knew that. Especially with the help of my friends and family.

Taking a deep breath, I flung the Time Turner into the lake. I stood there until the all the ripples it had made disappeared, until there was no sign of it left.

Then I turned back to the castle, to return to my friends and family.

**THE END**

**I can't believe that's over…it feels like the end of an era. Sorry for the unbelievably cheesy ending, but I felt I had to let my characters be happy :) I'm not even sure that anyone will be reading this because of the horrendously long time I took to update it, but if you are, then I really hope you have enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it. To everyone who took the time to review, thank you so much, know that you made my day! Literally every review meant so much, and thanks especially to everyone who took the time to review each chapter. **

**I realised writing this chapter that I don't really want this story to be over, so after my final set of exams in June I may begin writing for HP again and maybe even make these two a trilogy! Anybody want that? **

**Finally, thanks to my friends, particularly Helen, Suzy, Lucy and Swarna, for all your help, advice, proof reading and support. I love you guys so much and couldn't imagine better friends :) **

**Ami**


End file.
